Andy Murray will kick off his grass court season this week.

Last year, World No.1, Andy Murray entered the grass season on the back of a very strong clay court season which saw him reach three finals in a row. This year though, he did not have the same level of success until recently, at the French Open. This week, he will start his preparation for Wimbledon at the Aegon Championships and will be trying to produce the same level of aggressive tennis which saw him dominate the second half of 2016.

He is under a lot of pressure to defend his points from last year

In 2016, he almost swept every tournament in his path from this point on in the season.

His impressive run saw him end the year as World No.1, but now he will have to back it up. He is defending 2500 points in the coming month in Aegon Championships and Wimbledon. If he falls early in Wimbledon, there is a chance that he is not World No.1 after the event. The good point for Murray is that he is really used to being under pressure from a very young age. He was carrying the burden of a nation's anxiety to finally have a Grand Slam champion and he did not disappoint. Those years have made him very solid mentally and the experience could help him in the pressure times coming up.

His run to the semi-final at the french open was a really important confidence booster for him when he needed it most.

He was barely winning matches before French Open but he was able to get his act together then. If he can build upon the short-term momentum he has created for himself, he might be able to at least repeat part of his success.

He has a very difficult path to the title

Andy Murray will have a hard time defending his Aegon Championships title, but as one of the best grass courters of this era, he is capable of winning for sure.

He will face countryman Aljaz Bedene in the first round and would probably move swiftly through him. His second round will be much more interesting, as he might need to overcome the big-serving Sam Querrey. The American upset then-World No.1 Novak Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon and on his good day is capable of scoring another upset.

Murray, however, has cruised past the Ace machines in his career and very rarely has had problems against them. If everything goes well for him, he could have a big challenge awaiting him in the quarter-finals, in the shape of Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Tsonga pushed Murray to five sets before finally conceding their encounter at last year's Wimbledon. Murray would back himself to dismiss Tsonga if his serve works well for him. In the semis, he will probably have a flip-of-a-coin-toss match against Nick Kyrgios which might come down to a few points only.

In the final, he could expect to face Milos Raonic or Stan Wawrinka. It's by no means an easy draw for him, but if he can play at the same level that he did 12 months ago, he has every chance of being the last man standing in one week time and entering Wimbledon on a high note.