Murray seeks positives in aftermath of Queen’s defeat

● World No 1 hopes to take advantage of early exit to practise ahead of Wimbledon

Andy Murray is hoping his shock first-round exit at Queen’s can act as a wake-up call and spark him back into life before Wimbledon.

Murray endured a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 defeat to Australian lucky loser Jordan Thompson at the Aegon Championships on Tuesday, just 12 days before the start of the third grand slam of the year.

The Scot will now head to the All England Club short of both match practice on grass and confidence, having slipped to his ninth defeat of 2017 and sixth against an opponent ranked outside the top 20.

It remains to be seen whether he chooses now to enter any additional events next week, with Novak Djokovic announcing he had accepted a wild card for Eastbourne.

Murrayplayedtheexhibition event at Hurlingham when he last failed to win Queen’s in 2014 and could do so again. This week, however, he will return to the practice courts with his coach Ivan Lendl and he admits there is no time to lose in his bid to recover form.

“First-round defeats haven’t happened loads during my career at Queen’s Club, but they have happened,” Murray told the BBC. “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. 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.

“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 ten or 12 days of hard work.”

Murray will be the top seed at Wimbledon but is unlikely to be favourite given the resurgence of both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year.

The Scot insists he will not be taking the opportunity for rest or extra time with his family.

“Fewer matches means more practice, so it won’t change my home life too much in the build-up to Wimbledon,” he said. “My daughter Sophia sleeps pretty much from 6.30pm most days and I leave to practice pretty early, then I’m not back until quite late.

“I’m very thankful she sleeps in the evenings – it’s a good thing – but it does mean I don’t get to see her quite as much. Hopefully we’ll get the chance to catch a bit of Peppa Pig somewhere along the line.”

0 Defending champion Andy Murray will be top seed at Wimbledon but is unlikely to be favourite.