"Much of the attention Murray has received in recent months has focused upon his supposed petulance and lack of physical conditioning. Gilbert thus far has seen little evidence of the former, even if he struggles to understand Murray's penchant for listening to rap music, but both coach and player acknowledge that Murray needs to pack muscle onto his lean 160lb frame. Gilbert, a boxing aficionado, says: "He's just a middleweight right now, I'd like to see him move up to somewhere between a cruiserweight and light heavyweight, 188lbs would be perfect."
To continue the boxing analogy, Gilbert also wants Murray to take the initiative more often rather than sitting back, letting his opponent come on to him and then counter-punching.
Murray is properly proud of his ability to return serve. He is ranked 13 on the ATP tour in the percentage of points he wins on his opponents' first serve and tenth in the number of return games won, breaking his opponent 32 per cent of the time. Those are impressive numbers.
Fine, said Gilbert, but let's look at the statistics on the other side of the game. The Californian focused on Murray's weaknesses, not to belittle the Scot, but to remind him of what he needs to work on if he is as serious as he says he is about joining the game's elite. That Murray's serve - and the consistency with which he delivers it - needs to be improved is apparent to even the most casual observer. The statistics bear this out. Murray is ranked a lowly 67th in service games won, winning just 71 per cent of his service games. If he can nudge that up to 80 per cent or more he will be well-placed to move into the top 20 in the world and perhaps even higher. "