In just under a week's time, Andy Murray, the pride of British tennis will begin his campaign at the Wimbledon Championships in supposedly high spirits. Although his preparation for this great tournament has been nothing short of a disaster (he was knocked out in the 1st Round of the AEGON Championships at Queens by an unseeded frenchman just last week), the country seems to be strangely sure that Murray is going to win a Grand Slam and this will be his year. Seriously? In my view Murray can and will never win a Major, and here's why:

First of all, one has to understand that men's tennis is the strongest it has ever been in its rich history. The players currently occupying the 3 rankings higher than Murray are nothing short of world class. Roger Federer, in my opinion, is the best tennis player to have walked the planet; Rafael Nadal has the unique ability to consistently produce jaw-dropping ground shots and Novak Djokovic's dynamism paralleled with his unbelievable work rate has enabled him to dominate the past year or so in almost every tournament he entered. Unfortunately, Murray lacks a distinctive skill that sets him apart from the others.
Furthermore, Murray's form and confidence are currently not a high enough level for him to realistically  beat any of the 3 this year in a major tournament. Murray is also about the same age as Nadal and Djokovic, so in the long term, they will always be threatening during Murray's career.

Secondly, Murray has completely the wrong attitude on court, and this affects his overall global image which has an adverse effects on the amount of support he receives on the international circuit. The Scot is often aggressive and shouts and swears at himself when his frustration builds. This only seems to make his level of performance drop and he has often thrown away golden opportunities simply because of the fit of rage he has at himself. Obviously, in an inexperienced youngster you would perhaps find it understandable if they lashed out once in a while, but Murray is now experienced and must eradicate this from his game if he is to achieve Grand Slams and suchlike.

Furthermore, he shocks and scares tennis supporters in the process and therefore loses any support on court when he desperately needs it. The exception, of course, is when he plays in Britain. Yet this is just a small observation and is not the difference between winning and losing Grand Slams. The truth is, Murray is simply not consistent enough with his 1st serves and backhands during match situations, and this is a weakness which is exploited time and time again.

In January of this year, Murray announced that Ivan Lendl was taking up the position of his coach.  Again the media forced the British public to believe that this simple change in personnel would put Murray on course for an immediate Grand Slam. We have seen no change in Murray's lacklustre performances since the Czechoslovakian's arrival because these things take time. Time to gel with the coach. This was at least the latest of a selection of excuses from the Murray camp. How about this? Murray simply has not got the raw ability needed to win a top trophy. This has not registered with  British tennis fans because decent British players have been so finely spread over the past half-century. Either way, the British media needs to notch down the intensity of its coverage on Murray so that the pressure is lifted off his shoulders at SW19 next week. Maybe then we will see some world class tennis from the Scot.