Andy Murray maintains ‘ambitions of competing for Wimbledon titles’ despite Madrid Open exit

Andy Murray has defiantly propped himself up to compete to win at Wimbledon despite being in the midst of some of the worst form of his career.

The former world No. 1 crashed in the first round of the Madrid Open against unheralded Italian Andrea Vavassori on Thursday, marking only the second time Murray had been beaten on clay by an opponent outside the top 100.

A defeat in the Spanish capital extended Murray’s winless streak on the ATP Tour to four, equaling the worst run in his career as a professional for the 35-year-old.

Murray was also recently knocked out in the first round of the Miami Open and the Monte Carlo Masters, losing to Dusan Lajovic and Alex de Minaur respectively.

Despite his disappointing form on the field of late, Murray insisted after his defeat that he still believes he is capable of competing at the highest level of the sport.

“Certainly, the beginning of the clay-court season was not so easy for me, but normally after a few weeks I start to feel and play better.

“Of course I’m not saying that I came here last year and immediately played fantastic tennis, but I played well enough to win games … against good players, top players.”

Murray also insisted he plans to compete in the French Open next month, a competition he came agonizingly close to winning in 2016 before being defeated by Novak Djokovic in the final.

“Even though I feel fit and healthy, I’m eager to try,” he said.

“But I also have ambitions to compete for Wimbledon titles and things like that and I know sitting here today probably doesn’t sound realistic, but I do believe that’s a possibility.”