Andy Murray: New coach looks top priority for Grand Slam champion after Roberto Bautista Agut thrashing in Doha

Three years ago Andy Murray’s career looked to be on the line after his five-set loss to Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of the Australian Open. Now, after a 6-1 6-0 thrashing by the same opponent, one wonders what direction his career is now heading.

Murray has been steadily building steam over the last year, playing more regularly and getting some impressive wins under his belt. But the positives have been tinged with some disappointing results, such as the loss to then-world No 158 Roman Safiullin in an ATP Challenger in Rennes, or the defeats to Dominik Koepfer and Tommy Paul towards the end of 2021. This year they have stacked up further as Murray has lost to world No 56 Facundo Bagnis, world No 120 Taro Daniel, and has now suffered one of the heaviest defeats of his career against Bautista Agut.

The last player to beat Murray 6-0 6-1 was Roger Federer in 2014. The only other player to hand out such a one-sided thrashing to Murray was Novak Djokovic in 2007.

Murray was poor against Bautista Agut, winning just 15 of 41 service points, eight on his first serve and seven on his second serve. He managed just five winners compared to 15 unforced errors.

Yes, Bautista Agut was good, and when he’s dialled in he can give the very best in the world a tough test, yet the way he ran away with the match was surprising.

Murray had spoken before the match about the courts in Doha suiting his game and wanting to make things “difficult” for any opponent he faced. He did get into several games against Bautista Agut which might have swung the other way on another day, but Murray seems still he is still just a bit short of where he wants to be, as he acknowledged after his defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime in Rotterdam.

“I really feel like my tennis can be a lot better. I don’t feel like I lost because I was really struggling with my movement but I believe that my tennis can improve providing I put in the right work and consistently work on the right things for a period of time and I believe that will happen.

“It probably won’t happen overnight because some of the mistakes that I’ve been making technically have been probably happening for 18 months or so, so it takes a bit of time to break those habits. I’ll need to put in a lot of work on them to change that.”

Murray’s ability to ‘work’ his way back to the top is perhaps being hampered by his continuing struggle to find a full-time coach.

Murray parted ways with short-term coach Jan de Witt on the back of his second-round exit to Taro Daniel at the Australian Open. He also had a trial spell with Johanna Konta’s former coach Esteban Carril towards the end of last year and has been working this month with his own ex-coach Dani Vallverdu, who is still contracted to the injured Stan Warwinka, and childhood friend Colin Fleming.

“I’m just trying to get a more permanent solution so that I can have consistency in terms of the things that I’m working on,” Murray said last week.

“Because having different messages from people who are working with you each week is not ideal.”

A clear message and direction might be what Murray needs right now. He has not exactly been stuck in a rut over the last 12 months because there has been progress, but he might have expected to have made more progress. The search for consistency remains; only in his run to the final in Sydney in January has Murray won three matches in a row in the last two years. The quality is there, and not just in flashes, which is why results such as the straight-sets defeat to Daniel at the Australian Open are so frustrating. Murray looked well below his best in that match and was left questioning afterwards whether he would even return to Melbourne if he couldn’t improve.

What direction Murray wants to go with a new coach is unclear. Riccardo Piatti is now a free agent after ending his long-term relationship with Jannik Sinner, who is reportedly seeking a 'super coach'. Former world No 3 David Ferrer may also be available, having been praised by Alexander Zverev in 2021 as the "best coach" that he had worked with.

As well as his coaching search, Murray has been playing this year with a new racket, one with a slightly larger head which he hopes will be a “bit more forgiving”. Roger Federer made a similar move in 2014 to try and find a bigger sweet spot and it was only three years later than he felt his backhand had significantly improved because he had “put in so many hours onto the racket”. It might some time before Murray adjusts properly to his new racket.

Murray still seems to have the desire and fight to keep going. Naomi Osaka noticed as much at the Australian Open when she tweeted: “Anyone put their heart on their sleeve and fight harder than Andy Murray?” But is Murray’s heart and fighting spirit enough alone to get him where he wants to be? Or does he now need more?

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