World number one Novak Djokovic has said that Andy Murray possesses the quality to win a Grand Slam tournament.
The Serb, who begins the defence of his Wimbledon title today, recently made a trip to Gleneagles as he recovered from his French Open final defeat to Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic believes that Murray is suffering from the burden of expectation that weighs heavy upon his shoulders.
"I talked with many people – the driver who picked us up at the airport, the people who were in the hotel, everybody we met was mentioning Andy," said Djokovic. "It's normal because he comes from there, they are proud of him. The question they were asking most was, 'When is he going to win a Grand Slam?'
"I said very soon because I really believe that. I really believe he has the qualities. He was in, what, three or four finals? He was in many semi-finals. He has improved over the years playing on clay courts.
"You could feel that there is a lot of expectation and pressure on his back. He feels it, too. It's a matter of, at the latter stages of events – semi-finals, finals – being able to fight with it at that moment. You have to go for your shots, especially against those guys. If you don't, they will be the ones who take over the control and the pace of the match and you don't really have much chance from there."
Djokovic opens on Centre Court at 1pm this afternoon.
Michael Penkman
