Andy Murray form has made him the favourite

Andy Murray has made me change my mind.

Before a ball was served, I fancied Novak Djokovic to wrest the Men’s Singles trophy from the Scot’s grasp. I watched both the Serb and Andy in action on Friday.

Murray’s form has been so phenomenal all week, I now make him favourite to win the title next Sunday. Andy has been exceptional in everything he has done in his opening three ties.

Having previously picked Djokovic as favourite, I now firmly believe Murray will retain his title. I don’t think anybody could have played better than Murray did in his Third Round win over Roberto Bautista Agut.

Here was a player ranked 23 in the world, coming in with nothing to lose, and full of confidence after winning his last tournament on grass.

Murray destroyed him. Andy simply dismantled the Spaniard’s game. It was brutal. For the first four games of the match, Bautista Agut threw everything he had at Murray and it got him nowhere.

The Spaniard played his best tennis, and was outplayed. He was a broken man before the end of the first set.

Murray’s performance reminded me of Roger Federer in his prime when the seven-time champion used to dismiss opponents in the early rounds like swatting flies. It was that good.

Andy looks as if he owns the Centre Court. It’s his arena. He looks like the Wimbledon champion, and is totally confident in everything he does. I like the way Murray is engaging with the public much more.

He’s signing autographs, posing for ‘selfies’ and that sort of stuff. He now has the Wimbledon crowd totally on his side, and that is a huge advantage.

Watching Djokovic and Murray on the same court in fairly quick succession on Friday was very informative. I just felt Andy looked much better, and was hitting the ball more firmly and with greater purpose.

Murray is defending so incredibly well, the court looks much smaller on his side of the net. Winning points against him is exhausting for opponents.

Of course, there will be tougher tests to come. Kevin Anderson tomorrow will be the first really big server that Andy has faced this Wimbledon.

Beyond that there is a prospective quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov, the winner at Queen’s Club. However, I’ve seen enough of Andy Murray to think that I’ve been watching the Wimbledon champion again.

It’s too early to know if the link with Amelie Mauresmo has played any part in Murray’s scintillating form. Win or lose the tournament, it will still be too quick to make any judgement.

But so far the partnership seems to be ticking over pretty well. Andy has come out for each match with a game plan that he has executed to perfection.

There has been no feeling his way into matches. Murray has been on to every ball from the first point.

People sometimes ask if I get bored watching one-sided matches. I certainly do with some players but not with Andy Murray. He has such variety of shot-making, so many different spins and angles.

Andy has been magnificent, and there’s no reason to believe he cannot maintain that level all the way to retaining his title.