The wait for a male British Grand Slam champion continues but the fallout from Sunday’s final shouldn’t be all doom and gloom but one of positives. Andy Murray’s fine display over the fortnight suggests that it surely won’t be too long before he wins that elusive major title.

The one thing that Sunday showed is how far ahead Roger Federer is at the front of pack. Federer is a different player when it comes to Grand Slam finals. He was the proverbial Ice Man, unflustered by the resurgent Murray in the third set. It would have taken a special performance to beat Federer and deny him his 16th major title. His dogged defence was just as effective as his devastating forehand, and for the first two sets the Swiss oozed class as he completely outplayed an out-of-sorts Murray and then held his nerve to clinch the decisive tie-break in the third set.

Murray clearly was effected by the brilliance on the opposite side of the net. His usually trusted backhand let him down, his serve percentage fluctuated, allowing Federer into his service games, and he looked nervous on the big points. A missed routine forehand at 6-5 at set point in the tie-break demonstrated his lack of belief. However, credit has to be given to Murray and his team for the improvements Murray made during the off season.

The decision to play in the Hopman Cup in Perth instead of going to Qatar clearly paid dividends. Murray looked strong and fit throughout the fortnight, and the most pleasing thing for British tennis fans was the aggression he showed and his willingness to take control of points.

He was heavily criticised for defeats against Marin Cilic, Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez and Fernando Verdasco in the Grand Slams last year for being too passive, and it looked like the same story this year after a shaky first set against Cilic in the semis, when he let the big hitting Croat dictate play. However, after the first set Murray cruised through the next three, venturing to the net more, bruising with his backhand and showing great variation in his ground strokes.

Murray, now No.3 in the world, has reaffirmed his position at the top of the game and his humility at the end of the match clearly expressed the passion and desire he has to win a grand slam.

Although outplayed, and disappointed with his performance there is no doubt many things Murray can learn from his experience.

After his second Grand Slam final Murray knows what it takes to reach the latter stages of a major and should be better prepared for the experience. Being at the wrong end of beating could be a good thing for future years.Murray knows he has to work harder and that his shots need greater potency. Federer’s fierce forehand won him cheap points time and time again and Murray needs something similar. The improvements will have to be made quickly as Federer is showing no signs that he wants to relinquish his titles

Murray needs to remember that he knows how to overcome Federer and that he has the game to do it. Although he hasn’t had the best of luck in the best of five sets matches against him, he is aware of the game he needs to bring to the Slams to beat him.

Released: February 2010 thanks to TennisLife www.tennislife.co.uk (by Jack Hartman)