ANDY Murray believes the extra week on grass after the French Open increases his chances of regaining his Wimbledon title.

For the first time, players now have three weeks to prepare on the surface rather than two, ensuring that everyone has an adequate chance to get used to the nuances of the surface.

Some suggested the extra week will level the playing field for those less at home on grass but Murray believes he will benefit just as much as everyone else, if not more.

"When I felt like I played my best tennis on grass was after I spent a long period on it before the Olympics, post Wimbledon [in 2012], when I spent six, seven weeks on the grass," Murray said yesterday, as he prepared for the Aegon Championships, which begin at London's Queen's Club tomorrow. "So the more time on the grass before Wimbledon, the better for all the players."

For the likes of Murray, who were involved in the final few days of the French Open, the extra time has been even more therapeutic.

But the Scot, who begins his quest for a fourth Queen's Club title against a qualifier tomorrow or on Tuesday, revealed the extra week had been even more useful to him than expected.

"I had three full days off," he said. "I was actually sick for about a week and I needed to recover from that too. I've just got back to training again."

Murray said he had felt below par when beating David Ferrer in the quarter-finals in Paris but did not go as far as saying he had been affected when he was edged out in five sets by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

"When I got on court and started running around it was fine. But then when I got back [home] my left eyelid closed up and I was just ill. I had a bad cough for a couple of days. I don't know if I was just run down or tired or whatever. It had obviously been a long few weeks but I feel fine now."

Not only does he feel fine, Murray goes into Wimbledon in a completely different frame of mind to this time last year. Though he also reached the semi-finals in Paris 12 months ago, his back was still bothering him after surgery the previous September and he played a poor match as he was beaten by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Twelve months on and Murray is coming off his best clay-court season and with the likes of Boris Becker and John McEnroe tipping him for Wimbledon glory. The Scot said yesterday confidence was high after one of his best starts to a year.

"Last year was definitely a very difficult year," he said. "The first six months were especially hard. Coming off the surgery I found it difficult. I maybe didn't expect it to be that hard, whereas this year from the beginning I felt ready to win major competitions again.

"It's been huge, huge progress from where I was at this stage last year. I have played extremely well so far this year so I have to be happy about that.

"Obviously the grass courts suit my game better than the clay and if I can take some of the form from the clay over to the grass and the confidence I've built up there I'm sure I can have some good results."

Having been denied in the final by Djokovic in Australia and again by the Serb in Miami, Murray won titles in Munich and Madrid and will be confident of another good run at Queen's, where he won the title in 2009, 2011 and 2013. But the Scot said he was well aware things could change quickly.

"No one would have thought that Stan [Wawrinka] was going to win in Paris and he ended up playing incredible tennis so there's no guarantees," he said. "Just because I'm playing well doesn't mean I'm going to play well in a few weeks but likewise, if I play really bad here, it's doesn't mean I can't have a great Wimbledon."

Contrary to some reports, Murray confirmed yesterday that Amelie Mauresmo would be at Wimbledon in her role as lead coach. The Frenchwoman is due to have her first child in August but will be in charge while Jonas Bjorkman, who is with Murray at Queen's, will be alongside.

Yesterday's draw threw up a number of intriguing encounters, none more so than the one between Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios, the Austral- ian who beat Rafael Nadal on his way to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer.

With an explosive game and a youthful haircut that would probably fill most of the parents at Queen's Club with dismay, Kyrgios is a breath of fresh air in the men's game.

And the 20-year-old, who also beat Roger Federer on clay this year, says he is relishing the chance of another big scalp. "It's unbelievable," he said. "To have an opportunity to play Wawrinka after he's won the French Open at some of the best grass courts in the world, it's exciting. I'm feeling really confident. But we'll see how it goes. I'm just going to go out there, play my game, have fun. If I lose, I lose. If I win, I win."

While Kyrgios is in the early stages of his career, another Australian, Lleyton Hewitt, is playing here for the last time before retiring in January. Four times the champion here, Hewitt has taken the likes of Kyrgios under his wing in recent years. The youngster could not be more grateful. "He's left an unbelievable legacy," Krygios said.

"He's a great leader for us as well. In Davis Cup, when he trains he's always going 110 per cent, he's always pushing us, making sure we're doing all the right things. He's massive for all our development."

One player who will be missing is British No 3 Kyle Edmund who has withdrawn due to an abdominal injury picked up in the French Open.His wild card at the Queen's Club will be taken by Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis.