Sky Sports’ tennis expert Barry Cowan has urged British number one Andy Murray to maintain composure in pressure matches if he wants to carve out a long Grand Slam winning career in the future.

Cowan’s comments come in the wake of Murray’s latest defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne. The Scot appeared to be firmly in control of things after breaking the Serbian’s serve and racing away to a 2-0 lead in the third set but he let the distraction of his opponent’s injury break get the better of him and he succumbed to a four set loss.

Murray has been praised for finally being able to control his emotions in his recent Grand Slam successes in the US Open and Wimbledon but the Australian Open final showed that nothing much has changed for the Scot who still gets riled up when the going gets tough.

Cowan believes it is easier to say things about composure from the comfort of the armchair but the pressure of playing in a Grand Slam final is something that not many people will understand. But it makes sense to have calm when playing these matches because in the end, a focussed mind wins the games.

The veteran added that the situation is similar to a football manager wanting his best players to retain their composure in the big matches and not getting sent off. He mentioned that Murray needs to work on remaining calm when things are not going for him.

Players like Roger Federer have had a lot of success in Grand Slams because they know how to keep calm and not get carried away when things are going his opponent’s way and Murray can learn a lot from someone like the Swiss Master about winning.