I started to write the post which included the words "humble pie", but with no small amount of regret, had to retract.

Let's forget all those Alex MPs, the battling back from 1 set down, etc......that's akin to Oli getting himself into the final set TB, and then immediately going 0-5 down. I'm sure our boys played just as well from a technical standpoint as their opponents today. If our sports journalists were writing, they would use expressions like "plucky" or "heroic" or "ran him close" or "almost". That's something, I'd hope we hear less and less of about british tennis over the next 5-10 years.

Clearly Oli and Alex played well today. I'm sure all of our top 25 can recall matches in which they played well, but lost. The trick is to win when playing badly. Or when playing badly overall, to play well on the points that matter. Or when playing well overall, like today, to not play badly or naively on the key points that change momentum. Andy does this (in the main) unbelievably well - winning when he's being outplayed, or breaking when his opponent falters just for a moment - and I don't think it's got anything to do with his tennis ability, which is also in a different class to these other boys.

You could argue that the skills or abilities I'm talking about can't be taught, and for the very best in the world, that's probably true. But I'm increasingly convinced that our boys need more specific coaching and training on the mental and tactical side of how to handle pressure moments in matches - exactly the type of mental training and preparation that has worked so superbly in british cycling (via Dr Peters). Whatever British tennis is doing has been very successful on the men's side at raising the average standards at the bottom end of the elite - and we may soon see our top 25 all within 650 or even 600 - but I thinks it's something very different which takes players into the top 200 or 100.

Disappointed about today in Duesseldorf (I lived there for 2 years - tears welling up), but not surprised.