Andy Murray still mentally suffers from Australian Open defeat to Roger Federer

British tennis player Andy Murray has admitted that he is still suffering mentally from losing the Australian Open final to Roger Federer.

“I need to sort out myself now. There’s stuff that goes on with tennis and things off court can affect it,” Daily Express quoted Murray, as saying.

“You just need to make sure you keep all your problems out of it. By the French I want to be playing good tennis again,” he added.

The 22-year-old was seeded fifth in the Australian Open and became the first British man to reach more than one Grand Slam final in 72 years, but lost to Federer in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11).

Since the defeat, Murray has hit a bad patch with a second round exit from last month’s Sony Ericsson Open after losing to Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-4, followed by poor performances in Dubai and Indian Wells.

“Losing to Federer left a big mark. Andy finds it easy to play at the highest level, but he might have problems taking the one extra step from a winning position to becoming a champion,” one of his insiders said.

“He hasn’t learned how to step over the line- that takes courage,” the insider added.