ANDY MURRAY - FIVE THINGS
Andy Murray prescribed hard work in the gym and on the practice court as the cure for the ills in his game after losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. Here, Press Association Sport assesses the areas in which the Scot needs to improve to get back to grand slam-winning form.
CONSISTENCY
Murray has played some great tennis since returning from back surgery but also some abject tennis. He has bemoaned his lack of consistency but has so far found no answer to the problem. The Scot has always struggled to replicate his grand slam form on the regular tour but the problem now is he is also playing poor matches at the major tournaments. It would do Murray the world of good if he could play at a high level at a tournament, any tournament, so hopefully he will make that a priority when he returns to the ATP Tour next month.
CONFIDENCE
It was always going to be tough for Murray returning from back surgery and, while the Scot may have recovered physically, mentally it appears to be a different story. The 27-year-old has opened up at various points in the season about a lack of confidence, and worryingly for Murray he has not beaten a top-10 player since defeating Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final 12 months ago. Three bad grand slam losses - to Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and now Dimitrov - certainly will not have helped the situation. Victory over a big rival is a priority.
HUNGER
Having spent so long trying to win a grand slam title and then winning both the US Open and Wimbledon within a year was a dream realised for Murray. The inevitable question then was what came next. Murray has admitted he found it difficult for a while after the Wimbledon victory to get excited about training. For a player with such an innate drive and love of the sport, that must have been very difficult. He insists the back surgery and the desire to come back from that relit the fire, but it is concerning to hear him still talking about a need for motivation. If Murray gets his head straight, his game should follow.
SECOND SERVE
The one major weakness in Murray's game remains his second serve. It improved under his former coach Ivan Lendl, who added more kick, but against Dimitrov, Murray's average second serve was only 86mph. It was clearly a tactic of Dimitrov to target it and Murray won just 31 per cent of points when he missed his first serve.
COACHING
The split from Lendl, who helped Murray get over the grand slam-winning hurdle, was undoubtedly hard for Murray, who spoke more like a jilted lover in the aftermath. His appointment of Amelie Mauresmo last month was initially just for the grass-court season but both seem to have enjoyed the experience so it would be a surprise, certainly from Murray's side, if they did not continue. It has been good to see Murray looking so relaxed on the practice courts and a long-term commitment from Mauresmo would undoubtedly help him.
