One step forward, two steps back: it is a routine with which Andy Murray has become frustratingly familiar in his battle to rediscover the consistency that was once his hallmark. The pattern continued at the Qatar Open where, one day after avenging last month’s defeat to Taro Daniel at the Australian Open, Murray suffered a 6-0, 6-1 humbling against Roberto Bautista Agut that marked his worst defeat in seven years.
Rarely has the former world No 1 suffered such ignominy in his professional career. Roger Federer dismissed Murray by the same scoreline in the group stage of the 2014 ATP Finals, but that match was effectively a free hit for the Swiss, who had already qualified for the semi-finals and played with irresistible abandon. The only other occasion on which Murray has shaken hands with only a single game to show for his efforts came in Miami in 2007, when he lost 11 straight games against Novak Djokovic as a 19-year-old.
This was a very different affair. Bautista Agut, the world No 16, is not the man to have a bad day against and, as Murray sprayed 15 unforced errors and struggled to find his rhythm on serve, the super-steady Spaniard made hay. Murray said after his win over Daniel that he finds the conditions in Doha to his liking, but Bautista Agut’s dogged retrieving meant he was never able to dictate as he had in the previous round.
Murray, twice a champion at the event, won just eight points in the 24-minute opening set and, although he held serve early in the second, some loose play in the fourth game cost him another vital break. As his frustration mounted, so too did Bautista Agut’s confidence, the Spaniard driving home his advantage in the final game with his third and fourth aces of the contest.
Despite his chequered results in recent months, Murray has made some decent progress in the rankings, climbing inside the top 100 for the first time since May 2018. Currently ranked 87th, he is now in a position to gain direct entry into the majors, even if wild cards remain the order of the day elsewhere.
Yet the 34-year-old has struggled against top-20 opposition since returning to the tour with a metal hip. Having openly pondered his future in the game following his Australian Open exit, Murray seems unlikely to tolerate setbacks of this nature too often.
Greater clarity over his coaching situation would no doubt help. Murray has been without a full-time coach since parting ways with Jamie Delgado in December. Trials with Johanna Konta’s former mentor Esteban Carril and the experienced German Jan de Witt failed to lead to a long-term arrangement, while Murray’s former coach Dani Vallverdu has returned to his day job with Stan Wawrinka following a temporary stint in Rotterdam.
“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, because having different messages from people who are working with you each week is not ideal,” said Murray last week.