Andy Murray: Is three-time Grand Slam champion a Wimbledon contender after 10 straight grass wins?

At the peak of his powers, a 10-match winning streak wouldn’t have seemed that special for Andy Murray.

These days, metal hip and all, it means a little bit more.

Murray’s decision to skip the French Open could not have been vindicated more over the last fortnight. Since the clay Grand Slam started its second week, Murray has played 10 matches on grass, won all 10, nine in straight sets, lifted two trophies, and is up to No. 38 in the world rankings, his highest ranking since 2019.

The wonder now is just where exactly does Murray rank among the best on grass, and will he be a contender at Wimbledon next month?

Much has happened since then, but Murray looks in the best position in years to make a serious run at a Grand Slam.

Grass is where Murray is at his happiest and his experience and nous on the surface counts for plenty.

Other top players have started slowly on grass – Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz all lost early in their first grass events – and the four finalists in Stuttgart and ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week were Tallon Griekspoor, Frances Tiafoe, Jordan Thompson and Jan-Lennard Struff.

How would Murray have fared if he had played at either of the ATP 250 events rather than in Nottingham?

He beat Thompson on his way to victory in Surbiton but has played just one other top-100 player – world No. 69 Nuno Borges – in his 10-match winning streak.

At Queen’s this week the competition will step up a level.

World No. 2 Alcaraz leads a strong field that also contains top-10 players Holger Rune, Fritz and Tiafoe.

Murray will be tested from the off as he opens against seventh seed Alex de Minaur. The Australian has won all three of his previous meetings against Murray, including in straight sets in Monte Carlo earlier this year. He is, however, not in the best run of form with three wins across his last four tournaments. The winner would play Diego Schwartzman or Mackenzie McDonald, and then potentially either third seed Fritz or Adrian Mannarino, who took out Medvedev impressively last week.

Murray is aware of the challenge ahead.

While he said he is “absolutely pumped” for Queen’s, where he is a five-time champion, he acknowledged in Nottingham that it’s difficult to gauge exactly how well he is playing right now.

“It is really hard to say if I’m playing my best level overall, I don’t know, because I mean absolutely no disrespect to the players I am playing against, I am aware they are very good players, but when you’re playing against guys who are in the top 10 in the world they are able to expose certain things in your game a little bit more as well.”

Murray will likely need at least two wins at Queen’s to guarantee a seeded spot at Wimbledon this summer. There will be close attention on his fitness as he plays for a third week in a row, although encouragingly he has said he is in his best shape in several years.

“In terms of physically how I have been, the last six to nine months have been really good and that has been the best I have felt since my surgery, that is really positive,” he said during his Nottingham run.

Everything has gone to plan for Murray so far this grass season. The next step is securing a seeded spot at Wimbledon, which he will hope ensures a kinder draw than he has had in the last few Grand Slams, and then it will be time to find out where he truly does rank on grass these days.