Murray in a hurry to pull up his socks

London – Andy Murray (right) admits he will have to improve dramatically to mount a successful defence of his Wimbledon title after the world No 1 suffered an embarrassing Queen’s Club exit.

Murray crashed to one of the worst defeats of his glittering career on Tuesday as Australian world No 90 Jordan Thompson ended his reign as Queen’s champion with an astonishing 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 first round victory.

Making the 30-year-old’s humiliation even worse, Thompson, originally beaten in the qualifying rounds, was only playing as a last-minute replacement for the injured Aljaz Bedene.

It was the worst possible preparation for Wimbledon, with the grass-court Grand Slam set to get under way on July 3.

Having reached the French Open semifinals earlier this month, Murray must have hoped he was back on track after his poor run during an injury-plagued first half of the season.

But instead the three-time Grand Slam winner plans to go back to the practice courts with coach Ivan Lendl in a last-ditch bid to find a solution to his struggles.

“I said before the tournament there was still a lot of work to be done, and after the French Open I knew that I was still quite far from where I needed to be,” Murray said. “One tournament doesn’t change all of what had gone on just beforehand. So that’s why I got back on the practice court quite soon after the French.

Murray has now failed to get past the second round in three of his last four tournaments, and has lost before the quarterfinals six times this year.

It is a remarkable crisis for a player who just eight months ago was sitting on top of the world after a golden year that including titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the ATP Tour Finals.

Murray looks bereft of form and focus at present and he conceded a lack of confidence was a factor. “I don’t feel like loads of my game has changed, but obviously right now I’m not playing as well as I was 12 months ago,” he said.