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Even at his best, Murray falls just short

Andy Murray has always been susceptible to big hitters blasting through him on clay, so his defeats to Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych do not worry me greatly.

These days it's pretty much the only way he gets beaten — apart from when he plays against the top three on the big occasions, obviously.

Raonic brought his best game in Barcelona, with Murray falling short; against Berdych in Monte Carlo Murray actually played really well, but the Czech was on fire and just too powerful for him.

Neither defeat is of particular concern though, and I would say Murray is in just as good form as last year — when he got to the semi-finals at Roland Garros. If anything he's a more complete player — Ivan Lendl has, it seems, improved his all-round game in the period they have worked together.

Murray has progressed well under his new coach — but to what degree this has made an impact in the pressure situations? We are about to find out.

In Australia, after only a few weeks with Lendl, he played incredibly well and that epic semi-final against Novak Djokovic will go down as one of the great matches. That showed Murray's ability to mix it with the big boys, that he no longer crumbles against them in the Slams.

A lot will depend on the form of the top three though.

Djokovic is not quite at the level of last year, but he's not far off; Rafael Nadal is playing a lot better and is in superb form; Roger Federer is almost back to his best and will be very difficult to beat on all courts.

Even with the Lendl effect Murray comes up just short of those guys when they are near the top of their game.

To win a Grand Slam he will need a favourable draw and for something unfortunate to happen to one of the big three; Lendl has fine-tuned Murray's game, and he's stronger than ever mentally, but even with these changes he is still just short of the others at their top level.

It's not that he chokes, it isn't mental — it's just that Murray is not quite as good as the others.

Losing to Raonic and Berych means nothing — I can see Murray getting to the semis in Paris, and possibly another final later in the season.

He'll always be knocking on the door and I sincerely hope that one day he'll win a Slam one day. But for that to happen everything needs to come into place for him, much of which is out of Murray's control.