Andy Murray staying positive ahead of Wimbledon title defence despite first-round defeat at Queen's

Murray was knocked out of the first round at Queen's and is now contemplating how to go about his build-up ahead of Wimbledon

Andy Murray is still expected to perform well at Wimbledon (Getty)

Andy Murray did not hide his disappointment after falling at the first hurdle at this week’s Aegon Championships, but the world No 1 was trying his best to be positive as he looked ahead to Wimbledon.

Murray’s first-round defeat to Jordan Thompson was only his third loss since 2008 at Queen’s, which he has won five times. In 2013 and 2016 he went on to win Wimbledon after claiming the title here.

“Winning a tournament is great and you feel good afterwards, but you can also sometimes think that your game is in a good place and maybe become a little bit more relaxed in that week beforehand,” Murray wrote in a column for the BBC in the wake of his straight-sets defeat to the world No 90.

“Now, there is clearly a lot of work required. I need to get myself out there on the practice court. There will be a slight change of plans and each day becomes extremely important, because I just don’t have the matches behind me. I'll need to put in a good 10 or 12 days of hard work.”

Murray has yet to finalise his plans for his build-up to Wimbledon, which starts on Monday week. It might still be a day or two before he reveals his intentions.

The likelihood is that Murray will do most of his work in the coming days on the practice court, though he is also expected to play one or two exhibition matches, either at the Boodles event at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire or at the Aspall Tennis Classic at Hurlingham in London. He has played at both in past years.

Murray recalled that early defeats here had not necessarily harmed his Wimbledon preparations in the past. “I lost to Nicolas Mahut in 2012 and used the extra time to play a couple of exhibition matches, and then reached my first final at Wimbledon,” he said.


 Murray was beaten in straight sets by the world No 90 
 (PA)

Greg Rusedski, who is part of the Eurosport team here, thinks there is no need to be concerned by Murray’s early departure from Queen’s Club.

“Everyone is blowing it out of all proportion,” the former world No 4 said. “It's one match. At the end of the day this isn't Wimbledon. He has another 10 days left before he has to open up the tournament so we shouldn't read too much into this.

“It means he’s going to get a bit more practice time, he’ll be able to get on the grass at Wimbledon, which is a little slower, and on top of that the conditions are not going to be as hot. I really think Andy is going to be fine.”

While the hot weather has meant that the courts here are less slippery than they can be at this time of year, Murray suggested that the drier surface and the higher temperatures have meant that the conditions have been quicker than has usually been the case.

Andy Murray has nearly two weeks to prepare for Wimbledon (Getty)

Murray also found consolation in the fact that Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic also lost their first matches on grass this year. Indeed, Tomas Berdych is the only one of the 2016 Wimbledon semi-finalists who did not begin this year’s grass-court season with a defeat.

Nevertheless, losing here has weakened Murray’s hold on the world No 1 position, which could well change hands if he fails to make a successful defence of his Wimbledon title next month. Rafael Nadal, Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic could all replace him at the top of the list.

Djokovic, meanwhile, has decided to play in next week’s Aegon International at Eastbourne for the first time. “I have heard great things about the tournament,” the Serb said in a statement. “I am looking forward to fine-tuning my grass-court game there ahead of Wimbledon.”

Djokovic is set to play at Eastbourne (Getty)

The idea of the 12-times Grand Slam champion playing in Eastbourne would have been unthinkable 12 months ago, when he had just become the first man for 47 years to hold the sport’s four biggest titles at the same time, but the decline in his form has been such that he is badly in need of matches.

Since winning the Qatar Open in the first week of this year, Djokovic has reached only one final in his seven subsequent tournaments, when he finished runner-up to Alexander Zverev in Rome.

It will be the first time since 2009 that Djokovic has played in the week before a Grand Slam tournament (he played in Sydney before that year’s Australian Open) and the first time that he has played in a tournament the week before Wimbledon since 2006 (when he played at ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands).


 Federer also lost his first match on grass this year 
 (Bongarts)

For many years now the top men have rarely competed in the week before a Grand Slam event. Djokovic, indeed, has grown accustomed to not competing anywhere between the French Open and Wimbledon, preferring instead to focus on practice and to play just one or two exhibition matches.

Despite the difficulties experienced by some of the top men in the opening exchanges of the grass-court season, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga does not expect their troubles to have any effect on the outcome of events at the All England Club next month.

“I think the favourites are still the favourites,” the Frenchman said after becoming the latest big name to lose here when he was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Gilles Muller. “You have seen these kind of things happen so many times before, and in the end it's still always the same guys. For the moment, I think everybody expects the best guys [to win] at Wimbledon.”

After the five British men in singles competition failed to win a match here, Jamie Murray kept the home flag flying when he partnered Bruno Soares to a 7-6, 6-1 first-round victory over Muller and Sam Querrey.