Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 31 March 2007 /

Andy Murray admitted he had no excuses after he was brushed aside 6-1 6-0 by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Many anticipated an exciting clash between the two 19-year-olds but the contest never got going as the Serb, who beat Murray in the Indian Wells semi-finals earlier this month, crushed the British number one in straight sets in just over an hour.

Murray started brightly, holding his first service game and creating three break points in game three but he failed to take his chance and, from then on, Djokovic raced to victory.

The Dunblane-born Scot was suffering with an ankle injury the last time they met, but he had no excuses this time around and admitted he was simply outclassed.

"It's the worst match I've probably played since I've been on the Tour," said the 12th seed. "He played better than me today. I wasn't very good so no excuses.

"He played a great match and hardly made any unforced errors.

"He serves well, he's solid on the return, he moves good. He does everything pretty well. He deserves to be in the top 10."

Murray, who now trails Djokovic 3-0 in head-to-heads, also feels that the heavy defeat might be the spur he needs to take his game to the next level and insists he is determined not to suffer the same fate again.

"I guess it's going to happen sometime in your career," Murray added.

"I'd rather it happened earlier so that I can learn from it. You never want it to happen again.

"But it's a good humbling experience, and I'll just have to try to improve on my game and get better to make sure it never happens again."

Whether Murray can make that step up this year and win a Grand Slam this season remains to be seen, but his game certainly has improved while, this result aside, he has also become more consistent.

He is currently available at 5.5 to win one of the three remaining showpiece tournaments this year in the '2007 Specials - To Win A Grand Slam' market, having been matched previously at a high of 18 and, more recently, at a low of 5.

Murray's next action will be for Great Britain in the Davis Cup when the Netherlands travel to Birmingham next weekend and a market for that Euro/Africa Zone clash will open up nearer the time.

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