Defending Wimbledon champ Murray not as confident as he was a year ago

World No. 1 Andy Murray, who lost in the first round at Queen's Club against Aussie Jordan Thompson on Tuesday, says he's not as confident on court as he was a year ago.

“I don't feel like loads of my game has changed, but obviously right now I'm not playing as well,” said Murray, who won nine titles in 2016 but has won just one this year. “Most of that comes down to confidence in matches, really. It's not so much that I have changed my serve or my technique as much.

"It's just when you're playing a lot of matches and winning consistently, [it] helps you make better decisions at important moments. [Against Thompson], the couple of times where—you know, like in the middle of the tiebreak, I made two poor mistakes. That's just poor decisions, and not hitting the ball well, in the big moments.”

Murray won the Dubai tournament in early March, but then lost early in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, though he did reach the semis in Barcelona and at the French Open.

The 30-year-old would have liked to have more wins going into Wimbledon, where he is the defending champion.

“The mental side is important, so last year coming in I had had a great run on the clay,” he said. “This year wasn't a good run but [I] played well, [reaching the semifinals] in the French. I had won a lot more matches through the clay-court season last year. I think that makes a difference.”

But he does believe that he can turn it around at Wimbledon.

”I feel like I can still do very well," he said, "providing I do everything right these next couple of weeks. I need to make sure I get that work done and put the time in on the court and in the gym.

"I mean, it's certainly possible. I proved it at the French and there is many, many cases of it in the past. There's no reason I can't do well.”