Gilbert: British No 1 has everything in his favour
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Your support makes all the difference.Brad Gilbert, Andy Murray's former coach, believes it is "just a matter of time" before he wins his first Grand Slam title. The American, who worked with Murray for 18 months, said that his former charge should not be concerned that he has reached three Grand Slam finals and lost them all.
"You've got to get back in the same situation and come good," Gilbert said. "I think that at 24, he's much more mature now. If you keep giving yourself a look, he's going to come through."
Gilbert believes this year could be the Scot's best opportunity yet of winning his home Grand Slam title. "He comes in after having his best clay-court season ever," Gilbert said. "He made three semi-finals, including the semi-final at the French Open, and he's just won Queen's.
"He's not coming there hoping to make the quarters or semis, he's coming there to win it. He's going to have to beat some of his main co-stars to do it, but he's come in with great preparation. He can't ask for any better. Now it's just a matter of getting it done."
Gilbert will be part of the ESPN commentary team at Wimbledon, which includes the Australian coach Darren Cahill, who has been working with Murray since the start of the clay-court season. "Andy's got a very good supporting cast," Gilbert said. "He's got his buddy, Dani Vallverdu, his hitting partner. I believe his mum helps out a little bit. He'll use the Adidas team, he uses Darren a little bit, so he's getting a lot of input. Now it's a matter of making that final hurdle."
Gilbert said he expected one of the big four – Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Murray – to win the title: "They've kind of separated themselves. Rafa's played tremendous, Fed's got a track record, Djokovic has been on fire this year and Murray has just won Queen's, so I think it will be one of those four."
The American said Djokovic's improvement made him a major contender: "He's serving so much better. If you look at his serving stats in 2011, compared to 2010, the difference is incredible. His return is off the charts. I was surprised that he didn't beat [Tomas] Berdych in the semis last year and he wasn't playing anywhere near the way he is now."
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