Andy Murray's Indian Wells and Miami defeats analysed by Leon Smith and Annabel Croft
Friday 1 April 2016 13:17, UK
Andy Murray’s recent struggles are the result of fatigue due to his non-stop schedule, according to Leon Smith and Annabel Croft.
Great Britain's Davis Cup captain Smith has overseen Murray at the peak of his powers in the past six months but believes his exertions are finally catching up with him.
A series of fine performances on the tennis court plus welcoming his first child have attributed to early eliminations at Indian Wells and the Miami Open in successive weeks, Smith believes.
There's not been many breaks. You certainly can't count having a child as a break! There's a lot of changes going out and it will take time to adjust
"There's so much going on his life, but also a snowball effect," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "If you think back to the end of last year, with the Davis Cup final then only a few days off, then he went straight to Dubai for pre-season.
"He had a great run in Australia, reaching the final again, then suddenly a life-changing moment as Sophia arrives.
"It's a brilliant episode and chapter in his life but it's a lot to take in. Then we have a Davis Cup tie against Japan which was extremely stressful - the match against Kei Nishikori took a lot out of him.
"To then travel a big distance out to Indian Wells and start this again - there's not been many breaks. You certainly can't count having a child as a break! There's a lot of changes going out and it will take time to adjust."
Murray was beaten in three sets in Miami by Grigor Dimitrov in a third-round match, a week after a shock loss to Federico Delbonis in Indian Wells.
And Sky Sports expert Croft agrees that a poor showing against Dimitrov was due to his punishing schedule.
"It's an uphill struggle, he'll be bitterly disappointed with the result because he had the lead in the final set, he was a break up," she said.
"It was a below-par performance from him, we're so used to him grinding out performances like that.
"There were a lot of unforced errors - 55 for him, which is a lot for Andy. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of back-chat to the box. He admitted himself that wasn't great and he needs to find focus.
"I think generally he looked exhausted."
Watch the Miami Open live on Sky Sports until April 3.
