Down the line: Murray continues to raise his game ahead of Wimbledon

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  • Class on grass: Andy Murray heads into Wimbledon in a rich vein of form.

    Wimbledon is less than a week away and several players have already sent out strong signals of intent with some stellar grass performances over the past fortnight.

    Andy Murray continues to impress on grass and his triumph at Queen’s Club last Sunday means he has now won four titles there, one Wimbledon crown and an Olympic gold medal all in England. 

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    Murray has written the book on how to rise to the occasion at a home tournament and he should maybe loan it to the Australians; Sam Stosur, for one, could learn a thing or two from the Scot. 

    The Wimbledon seedings will be announced tomorrow and since it’s the only major that doesn’t stick to the world rankings when it comes to seeding the players, it will be interesting to see what number Murray will get. 

    If he is bumped up from his world No3 spot, he could avoid a semi-final with Novak Djokovic, the Serb fast becoming his grand slam nemesis. 

    Rafael Nadal could benefit the most from the Wimbledon formula – which takes into account the points earned on grass in the preceding two years – especially with him ranked No10. His title win in Stuttgart on grass could help push him up to a 5-8 seeding. 

    Here’s the winners and losers from the past week…

    Thumbs up 
    Roger Federer
     
    The Swiss was two points away from losing in the first round to Philipp Kohlschreiber but still ended up winning an eighth title in Halle from 10 finals reached. It’s no wonder they have a street names after him there. The Swiss heads to Wimbledon as a real contender. 

    Angelique Kerber
    Considering how poorly she was performing from the Australian Open through to Miami – failing to win back-to-back matches in six consecutive events – Kerber’s rebound has been a remarkable one and her title win in Birmingham was her third at a Premier-level tournament in three months. 

    Thumbs down
    Eugenie Bouchard
    World No12 Eugenie Bouchard has lost the opening match in seven events this year.

    As she heads into Wimbledon, where she is defending runner-up points, Bouchard is on a four-match losing streak and has lost in 10 of her last 11. The Canadian is in real trouble and you can’t help but wonder if she, or anyone in her team, really has the solution.

    Grigor Dimitrov
    His title defence at Queen’s came to a halt in the second round and considering he’s defending semi-final points at Wimbledon, the Bulgarian must try to find his form on grass quickly.

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