Tuesday, July 4 2006 15:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Andy Murray insisted he was still one to two years away from reaching his peak after slipping tamely out of Wimbledon at the hands of Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis on Monday.

After a superb win over former finalist Andy Roddick on Saturday, the 19-year-old Murray was, by his own admission, lacklustre as he succumbed to a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) defeat by the Australian Open runner-up.

"It was a struggle," Murray admitted.

"That has got to be the worst I've returned this year and I've never missed so many second serve returns, especially off my backhand.

"It is slightly disappointing after the way I played on Saturday, but it is hard to explain. I just did not feel good the whole match.

"I got myself a break up in the second set and it just didn't happen," he said.



Despite his frustration at being unable to build on the win over Roddick, Murray was happy to have reached the second week of a grand slam tournament for the first time and is optimistic that he will be able to reduce his number of off days with the help of a new coach.

Murray, who has been on his own since parting company with Mark Petchey in April, has reportedly been talking to American Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, about that role.

Although he did not mention any names, the Scot said he was hoping to have reached a deal with someone who could "pump you up and motivate you" within the next few weeks.



"I have definitely got a lot of work to do but I have proved to myself that I can beat some of the best players in the world in Grand Slams," Murray said.

"Physically, I need to get stronger, mentally as well. Everything needs to improve and I'm hoping that by 21, 22 I will be playing my best in the Grand Slams," he said.

"My ranking is still going up, I think I will be around 35 in the world after this week and I'm going into my best part of the season on the hard courts," he said.

"So I'm pretty happy with my progress. Obviously I'm not going up as fast as last year but I'm still moving in the right direction," he said.