Andy Murray says he can 'still compete with the best' as he steps up Wimbledon preparation

Andy Murray says he has proven he can still compete with the best players in the world - he just needs to do it consistently now.

Murray was world number one in 2017 when he succumbed to a degenerative hip injury, with it taking three years and major resurfacing surgery to fix.

Since then he has struggled to string wins and tournaments together, although there have been plenty of impressive wins in isolation.

Since returning from surgery, Andy Murray has beaten, among others, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov and Dominic Thiem.

He says that shows he can still compete at the top of the men's game, although he knows he is still to find the consistency.

"I still think I can compete right at the highest level," Murray told the official ATP website after he beat Christopher O'Connell in Stuttgart.

"I have not shown that consistently over the past few years, but on one-off results, I have. I've beaten a lot of the top guys in the world since I came back, but not consistently.

"I'm hoping now that with a period with no injuries and lots of tournaments, I'll get back to doing that soon."

As well as currently playing Stuttgart, Murray has also played the Surbiton Trophy and will head to Queen's next week too.

That, he said, is a far cry from his lack of preparation for the grass season last year.

"Last year I was barely practising in the build-up to Queen's, and when I was practising I was not moving [well].

"I was not feeling good until about four days before Wimbledon, and then I actually felt fine. But my preparation was non-existent.

"This year I practised for three weeks on the grass, didn't really have any physical issues that were stopping me in my preparation. I got a lot of matches last week, and hopefully some more in the next couple of weeks in the build-up to Wimbledon."

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