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Andy Murray
Reaching out: Murray will be full of confidence after he won the Queen’s title without dropping a single set

Queen's win will not make Andy Murray king of Wimbledon

Michael Stich
15 Jun 2009


Winning the AEGON Championships doesn't make any difference whatsoever to Andy Murray's chances of winning Wimbledon.

Queen's is a great tournament to play in the build up to the tournament at the All England Club because it has a great atmosphere and a great tradition. But it's small in comparison to the grand slam event at SW19.

If you are one of the favourites at Queen's and you get lucky with the draw after the opening rounds, then you should go far in the tournament, as Murray proved.

That simply isn't the case at a grand slam like Wimbledon where the champion has to come through seven gruelling best of five set matches to win the title.

Warm-up events just don't compare to the slams. I remember beating Magnus Larsson in the Halle competition back home in Germany in 1994 and then going out of Wimbledon in the first round to a qualifier from Alabama in the United States called Bryan Shelton.

Don't get me wrong, this is the first time in decades that a British player has backed up a fine start to the year by winning a grass-court tournament and that will be a big boost to his confidence. But if Murray does triumph on the newly-roofed Centre Court in two weeks time it will be because of the work he has done over the past two years and not because he beat American James Blake in straight sets yesterday - and don't forget that this was his fourth tournament win of the season.

The Scot is now 22 and is bigger, stronger and more mature - and he knows what he wants.

He doesn't just go with the flow as he demonstrated when he dispensed with the services of Brad Gilbert as his coach. Murray proved he made the right decision in keeping a team of people around him rather than pursuing a relationship with a single coach.

His team have brought about the physical improvement that makes a grand slam a genuine possibility.

Murray realised that when he got into tough, long matches, he couldn't really handle them and he needed to get stronger and worked really hard on his physicality and that coincided with him winning against the big guys like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Murray now has a bigger serve and bigger groundstrokes and is basically a heavier player so, given the way tennis has changed in recent years, he is probably better equipped to do well because he has more in his armoury.

For me the changes he made to his coaching set-up were the signs of a successful character because he knows, ultimately, it is down to him how he performs and no-one else.

Murray now appears strong enough to handle any situation and keep the people off his back and is cocky in a positive way.

And he is going to need very broad shoulders over the next two weeks. I won the Wimbledon men's singles title in 1991 and can appreciate how much interest the tournament generates in this country for 14 days.

The British people will now have huge expectations on him at SW19 after yesterday's impressive victory over Blake.

You have been here before with Tim Henman who reached the semi-final three times before coming up short.

I think it is unfair to compare the two as Henman played consistent tennis for 10 years at Wimbledon and Murray is only just starting out on his journey. He never went all the way but Henman brought British tennis to a new level that Murray must now build upon.

So can Murray go all the way and become the first British men's singles winner since Fred Perry in 1936?

It is a huge ask and a lot can come down to the day. When you have to play seven matches you have to be equipped to deal with whatever is thrown at you.

You are not going to play at the same level every single match, that is impossible. You might wake-up feeling unwell, you might have a fight with your girlfriend, your racquets might not be strung quite right, your coach might get on your nerves and the weather might be against you in England - all those are things that could affect your game.

Murray has just had the perfect week and will be helped by playing on home soil with a huge support behind him.

His main threats will, of course, come from Nadal and Federer, who clearly don't like playing him and that has given Murray much more confidence and self-belief.

After winning at the French Open, Federer is going to be so relaxed at Wimbledon that it will make him very dangerous. Nadal's knee injury and his defeat at the French leaves him having to prove again he is a true champion. Novak Djokovic is another challenger but he is beneath Murray now because he hasn't performed that well recently. After that, there is a big gap to the rest. There is not enough experience aside from Andy Roddick, but he is not at the same level as the top four and pulled out of Queen's with injury.

As long as Murray avoids a tough first round draw and gets into his rhythm early, I fully expect him to reach the semi-finals. If he gets that far then anything really is possible.

* Michael Stich will be commentating for BBC radio Five Live and writing for the Evening Standard throughout Wimbledon.

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