Andy Murray: John Lloyd backs Scot for second Wimbledon title

Murray is bidding to reach his third Wimbledon final

Former British Davis Cup captain John Lloyd is tipping Andy Murray to win his second Wimbledon title.

Lloyd will be surprised if the 2013 champion and holder Novak Djokovic do not meet in their third consecutive Grand Slam final.

"The addition of Ivan Lendl is a masterstroke," Lloyd said of Murray being reunited with his former coach.

"I tipped him to win at the start of the event and I'm still sticking with it."

Murray, 29, has not won a Grand Slam since his triumph at SW19 three years ago.

The Scot lost to world number one Djokovic in the Australian Open and French Open finals this year, with the Serbian world number one the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors at the same time.

'A step above everybody else'

Djokovic holds a 5-2 record against Murray in Grand Slam finals and Lloyd anticipates another meeting for the number one and two seeds for this title.

"To me, Murray is going to get to the final, I can't see him not," said the 61-year-old two-time mixed doubles champion at Wimbledon.

"They're a step above everybody else, Novak and Andy, and I expect them to get there again."

Murray and Lendl reunited after a 27-month break following last month's French Open

Murray dropped just six games in defeating Yen-Hsun Lu on Thursday following a comfortable first-round success against Liam Broady.

Up next is Australian John Millman, who defeated 26th seed Benoit Paire to reach the third round for the first time.

Preserve energy

"People think maybe he'd like a tougher match, but I disagree with that," said Lloyd.

"He's got to keep his energy ready for the second week, especially if it comes to the ultimate test against Novak Djokovic when you've got to be at 100%."

Meanwhile, Lloyd is delighted that Tennis Scotland have announced Davis Cup captain Leon Smith as their new performance director.

"Scotland has had an amazing few years with the Murray brothers, Colin Fleming, Jamie Baker, the list goes on," he told BBC Scotland.

"We've had some really good players in Scotland and hopefully we will continue to do so, but it's all about the grassroots.

"And, if someone like Leon Smith comes up there and imparts a lot of the stuff that he's been learning - and with his experience and he's a good big name now - one would hope that he will see things he can put in place and help out."