Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey believes the British number one will be a strong contender for Wimbledon this year, despite his recent performances.

Murray lost in straight sets to the Czech Tomas Berdych at the French Open and David Ferrer at the Madrid Masters.

"Wimbledon presents a great opportunity, potentially his best, to win it," said Petchey.

"I expect him to at least be in the semis. Once you get through to the semis, it's game on for everyone."

The 23-year-old Scot has been inconsistent during the clay court season, exiting the Monte Carlo Open at the second round and crashing out of the Rome Masters at the third round.

His performance against Berdych on Sunday at Roland Garros was a sharp contrast to the battling performance against Marcos Baghdatis, recovering from a 6-0 thrashing in the third set to overcome the Cypriot.

However, Petchey believes any disappointment suffered by Murray in France will be short-lived as he looks ahead to the Aegon Championships at The Queen's Club on 7 June.

Wimbledon presents a great opportunity, potentially his best, to win it. I expect him to at least be in the semis Mark Petchey

"On reflection, the conditions didn't help him too much against Berdych," said Petchey.

"You've got to give a lot of credit for the way Berdych went after the match and executed his shots.

"Andy puts a lot of pressure in his opponents' minds because of his speed at the back of the court and he has a tendency to over-hit.

"But you could see Berdych had the power to get through the court and served great. He had some big moments, and Andy just lacked a bit of fire."

And he added: "During the course of a grand slam you're going to get someone who plays lights-out tennis.

"This was a minor disappointment for Andy, but if it had been the US Open or Wimbledon or Australia, he would have been feeling a bit more unhappy, because there are opportunities for him to win."

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