• Wimbledon

Djokovic: Murray can win Wimbledon

World No. 1 and reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic insists Andy Murray can claim his maiden grand slam title as the grass court season reaches its climax.

Murray was defeated by Djokovic in a rain-delayed exhibition match at The Boodles on Thursday as both players finalised preparations for the third grand slam of 2012. Doubts over Murray's Wimbledon chances have been raised with the Brit losing three matches on grass in recent weeks, but Djokovic says the world No. 4 can challenge for the title.

"Andy's chances are always strong. Maybe the media is too hard on him for not winning a grand slam, but he's a quality player," he said.

"He's an all-round player who can play on all different types of surfaces. He's been in the semi-finals of Wimbledon three times, he just needs a little bit of luck and a good day when he plays big matches."

Djokovic, the top seed for Wimbledon, says the result of the match at The Boodles was not important, but believes the time on court will be of benefit to both he and Murray when the SW19 tournament commences next Monday.

"What happened here does not really matter too much. We came here to have some good match practice before Wimbledon," said Djokovic.

"Playing with Andy was great for both of us. For me it was even more important because I didn't play in any tournament in the opening week of the grass court season. I'm happy with the way things are going. I feel good on grass and I have a couple more days to get ready."

Meanwhile, Murray remains upbeat over his Wimbledon build-up, despite suffering a first-round exit at the AEGO Championships last week.

"I think my preparations have gone very well," said Murray. "Queen's was obviously disappointing, but here the results weren't important at all.

"I'd have liked to have done better at Queen's, but after that I had a couple of good practice matches over at Wimbledon and had a couple of matches here as well. It's been good."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.