Tennis legend John McEnroe believes Andy Murray still has an excellent chance of retaining his Wimbledon title this summer despite his alarming slump in form.
Murray has tumbled from No.3 to No.8 in the world since his career-defining singles victory at SW19 last year, partly as a result of an enforced absence because of back surgery.
But seven-time Grand Slam singles winner McEnroe, who’ll be returning to Edinburgh to play at the Brodies Champions of Tennis ATP event from June 19-22, believes the Scot’s quality will shine through when he gets back in his stride.
He said: “A lot of unexpected things, at least to me, have happened to Andy, such as his surgery at the end of last year.
“When he and his coach Ivan Lendl split a couple of months ago, that was another surprise to me. It’s hard to tell where Andy’s at right now, mentally.”
McEnroe believes Murray’s performance on the clay at Roland Garros, which starts three weeks today, will be a decent marker for Wimbledon.
He added: “The clay court season is the most difficult part of the season for Andy.
“How seriously he’ll take it and how much he’ll play will be an indicator of what he’s thinking.
“I’d guess he won’t want to play on clay too much but hopefully by the time Wimbledon comes round Andy will be back to his best and in with a good chance of winning.
“There are other guys who grew up on clay and are more comfortable on that surface.
“Murray’s movement separates him from a lot of other guys and that advantage isn’t as pronounced on clay, so he loses that edge which takes some of his confidence away.
“I don’t know what happened at the Davis Cup against Italy.
“I know he played a couple of days in a row but I was still surprised he lost, rather routinely, to Fabio Fognini.
“That’s the type of match that, if you want to really make inroads, you have to win.”
McEnroe, who has offered to coach Murray, is on a long-term mission to improve the profile and status of tennis in his own country.
“We need to do something to get the buzz back in my country. You have Murray in Scotland.
“In America we have John Isner who is 10 in the world and after that you’re down to about No.60.
“We need to do more to attract the talented athletes the sport needs to get the excitement back. ”
Tickets for Brodies CoT are on sale at championsoftennis.com.
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