ANDY Murray’s demise has been blown out of all proportion and the Scot can still win Wimbledon, according to former British No 1 Greg Rusedski.
Murray crashed out in the first round of the Aegon Championships on Tuesday after a shock defeat to Australian world number 90 Jordan Thompson.
The loss came just 12 days before the start of Wimbledon and leaves Murray short of both match practice on grass and confidence.
It also continues a worrying dip in form for the world No 1, who has lost nine times already in 2017, six of those coming against opponents ranked outside the top 20.
Rusedski, however, insists there is no reason to panic.
“Everyone is blowing it out of all proportion,” Rusedski, an analyst for Eurosport, 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.”
It remains to be seen whether Murray now chooses to enter any additional events next week, with Novak Djokovic announcing yesterday he had accepted a wildcard for the Aegon International at Eastbourne.
Djokovic has previously tended to play only the odd exhibition match in the build-up to Wimbledon while Murray entered Hurlingham when he last failed to win Queen’s in 2014 and could yet do so again.
“I don’t see the lack of matches as a problem,” Rusedski said.
“He’ll just go play a few exhibition matches. Novak has won Wimbledon before without playing any matches leading in and Rafa has done the same, so let’s all not panic about it.
“The other thing as well is it’s three out of five sets at Wimbledon. In a two out of three match at Queen’s a guy can beat you but the best players tend to come out on top in those longer battles.”
On the same afternoon Murray was crumbling against Thompson, Roger Federer looked ominously relaxed as he took just 52 minutes to beat Japan’s Yuichi Sugita.
Federer is many observers’ favourite to win a record-breaking eighth Wimbledon title next month while Rafael Nadal is the man in form, having sealed his 10th French Open triumph less than two weeks ago.
Rusedski, however, insists Murray is still among the chief contenders.
“Andy has a great shot at Wimbledon, make no mistake,” Rusedski said.
“At the start of this week I had him joint favourite with Federer. Now maybe Federer is a little ahead and even Rafa will be a threat if he gets into the second week.
“It’s a little bit more open but you still have to put Andy as one of those three or four guys that can win the title.
“He got his momentum back a little bit at the French Open and Lendl is back with him, which is key.
“Lendl will get into him now and get him prepared. For me it’s just a question of whether he’s healthy. If Murray’s healthy he’s got a shot.”
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