Murray's match with Cameron at No 10

It must rank as one of Andy Murray's most bizarre confrontations, but the British No 1 was forced to pick up a racquet last week and defend his reputation against the Prime Minister.

The surreal match took place when Murray, along with seven other top-ranked players, had been invited to meet David Cameron as part of the promotional drive before the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The players had taken their racquets along to Downing Street in case they were needed for photographs.

Cameron seized the moment and, borrowing a racquet from the astonished World No 1, Rafael Nadal, invited Murray to take part in a non-political rally.

In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, 23-year-old Murray revealed: "I was scared. I didn't want to break anything. Honestly, he was hitting the ball really, really hard at me and I'd no idea if everything in there is really expensive or what.

"There was a chandelier above where the table would normally be and a few of the balls were dangerously close to that. I was more scared than embarrassed, I think."

Others witnesses to the strange tennis duel were Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer, who are all competing in the event this week at London's O2 Arena. It is Murray's second trip to No 10 - he and David Beckham met Gordon Brown last year - but it was the first time he had been asked to roll his sleeves up and show off his talents.

The only pictures released of the meeting were of Cameron and Murray sharing a drink and a conversation. "Playing tennis in Downing Street is something that I don't think anyone would think they'd ever be doing," Murray said. "This is the stuff that is still obviously a bit strange to me. I don't think anyone really expects it until you start doing it for a few years. Now I kind of understand what comes with the job, but I feel like I'm still the same.

"I still like just messing around with my friends and doing all the things I used to enjoy doing and this is something that is, obviously, part of the job and you become more used to it. But it is a bit surreal, yeah." Murray plays Soderling in the first round this afternoon.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "All the breakables were removed from the room beforehand and there's a big table in there which was also taken out."