5 Queen’s Club omens in Murray’s favour for 2016 Wimbledon glory

Andy Murray now stands alone in the Queen’s Club pantheon and as he did in 2013, the British number one will be hoping the trophy is a springboard for Wimbledon success.

A record fifth Queen’s Club crown places Murray one ahead of the great John McEnroe, but while that’s a very laudable accolade, it’s making a further dent in the American’s trio of Wimbledon successes which matters most to Muzza’s place in tennis history.

McEnroe managed to convert 50 per cent of his four Queen’s wins, while Murray is currently one from four, making only the semis on the other three other occasions he’s won the traditional SW19 warm-up.

Britain’s best is the 3/1 second favourite for Wimbledon 2016. Having already lost the finals of the first two majors of the year to nemesis Novak Djokovic, it’s fully understandable the holder of all tennis’ most coveted trophies simultaneously, is odd-on at 8/11.

However, Murray did find a way to unseat the Serb in 2013 of course and there are some heartening similarities between his preparatory victory this year for those willing to wager a few pennies on another grass-court double.

En-route to the 2013 Queens Club trophy the Scot also….

1. Beat Nicolas Mahut in straight sets

The Frenchman proved he is no mug on grass by lifting a second consecutive doubles title this year, but not before Muzza had ended his singles tilt in the early rounds.

2. Beat Marin Cilic in three sets

The rangy Croat is always a force on the green stuff given his powerful serve-volley game and as he was in the 2013 final when taking the first set, he proved a stubborn opponent again this year. Murray had to regroup when Cilic pegged him back to 1-1 in their semi-final showdown in west London.

3. Came from behind to win the final

As mentioned above, in 2013 the Dunblane native also faltered to lose the first set of the showpiece, as he did via a tiebreak to Milos Raonic on Sunday. Yet again, though, Murray dug deep to tick off successive sets.

4. Was taken the distance in the semis and final

Last year Murray was able to breeze through the final stages for the loss of just 16 games. However, the only other time he’s been pushed the distance in the semis and final was three years ago, shortly before his Wimbledon coronation.

5. Defeated exactly two seeds

A quirky one to finish, but in defeating big-serving duo Cilic and Raonic en route to his record haul of five, it mirrored 2013 as the only other of Murray’s Queen’s triumphs in which he faced the same amount.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.