Andy Murray described a poster of past and present Wimbledon greats as “strange” after it was criticised for marginalising female champions and leaving out the Scot.

Four of the six women were at the back, with Murray left out and Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the front.

“Me not being on it is certainly not a problem,” Murray said.

The image was part of a series of artworks done by an illustrator and was intended to show some of the great rivalries at SW19 over the years.

The ‘Big Three’ of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were shown, with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova behind them.

Serena and Venus Williams, who have won a combined 12 Wimbledon singles titles, were near the back.

Neither Sinner or world number one Alcaraz have gone beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Murray, speaking after his 6-4 6-4 loss to world number six Holger Rune at the Hurlingham exhibition, said the grouping of the men at the front was “slightly strange”.

“It was a disaster, wasn’t it? I don’t need to elaborate any more on it, it’s pretty obvious if you see the poster,” the 36-year-old joked.

“I guess the players that are on the poster are ones that have had incredible careers and have been unbelievably successful at Wimbledon.

“Alcaraz and Sinner are unbelievable players but it just seems strange that they were all sort of behind them.

“I personally don’t really care that much about it. But I can see when you look at it’s like, ‘that does look a bit strange’.”

The poster was also criticised by Murray’s brother, Jamie. The All England Lawn Tennis Club did not previously comment on the criticism.

Murray won two Challenger titles in the home grass-court season but suffered a first-round exit at Queen’s last week.

He will not be seeded at Wimbledon, which begins on 3 July.

“It’s great to play these sorts of matches a few days out from Wimbledon,” the 36-year-old said of his match against Denmark’s Rune.

“He’s one of the top players in the world, so you get to see exactly where your game is at.”

World number 39 Murray started well but let four chances to break for a 4-2 lead slip, before double faulting in his own service game to hand the 20-year-old Rune the lead.

Murray was then broken in the first game of the second set and could not create an opportunity to get back on level terms.

Rune, a semi-finalist at Queen’s and one of the favourites to challenge defending champion Djokovic at Wimbledon, then served out victory in one hour 40 minutes.

“There are things to work on but it keeps you very sharp,” Murray added.

“I would have liked to have done a little bit better but I can start from here and build on this.”

Djokovic is set to play Frances Tiafoe at Hurlingham on Thursday, with Britain’s Cameron Norrie facing French Open runner-up Casper Ruud.