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Murray won't win Wimbledon this year - McEnroe

Andy Murray has been beaten by Roger Federer in his two Grand Slam final appearances © Getty Images

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John McEnroe believes Andy Murray will win a Grand Slam title, but not until next year.

The former world No. 1 predicts the Scot, who has lost to Federer in both of his Grand Slam final appearances, will win the 2011 US Open. But once Murray gets his first Major, the pressure will be off and more could follow, the three-time Wimbledon champion believes.

"I can totally relate to what he's going through," McEnroe said. "And he's got more pressure in a way, because he hasn't broken through yet. I sort of took it for granted.

"There is more anxiety in his case because of what goes on in Britain. Everyone wants it so bad. He has been going through this for years already. You have a legitimate contender. Each year it grows and it gets that much worse.

"So, you would suspect if he gets through the first hurdle he could win another couple fairly quickly - but the first will be the sweetest. I would say it will come next year at the US Open. I can't imagine if things go well he won't put himself in the mix. Clay is a long shot. In Australia he still has a shot."

Murray stormed through to his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in January without dropping a set, but as in his first final at the 2008 US Open, he was stopped in his tracks by world No. 1 Federer.

"The first time, you can say, 'That's a first-time experience - I'm going to learn from it'," said McEnroe. "It didn't seem like he learned that much from it, so that probably hit him pretty hard.

"I thought he was going to win it in Australia. "I thought he'd be ready that next time but there's this x-factor, Roger, which complicates things. You have to play your A-plus game for two-and-half, three hours to get through."

McEnroe has warned Murray that trying to peak solely at the Grand Slams is a risky approach.

"Some guys can pull that off: the Williams sisters on the women's side, (Andre) Agassi seemed quite good at that, Roddick seems reasonably good," he said. "It's not a bad approach if you're able to deal with the extra pressure that you're going to put on yourself by not feeling as match tough."

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