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Even an on-form Murray would probably have lost to Djokovic, but no excuse for being that poor. Pity, as he's played some good tennis this week. Djokovic now has a huge psychological advantage over Murray, which is clear every time they face each other - no idea how Murray can overcome that...

Ashcroft poll in Gordon had SNP on 43% and Libs on 26%

A comfortable QF victory for Murray and a Semi Final against Djokovic to look forward to after Djokovic got a walkover in his QF.

Dons v Utd re-arranged league game now scheduled for 3.00pm on the Saturday of the semi-final weekend.

Good news with the ranking - especially with the Miami Masters only a week away. It appears to have been a focused performance from Murray, so hopefully bodes well for the latter stages of the tournament. A much easier QF now!

Murray through to the last 16, after a wee wobble in the 2nd set. Gulbis lost his match, so (on paper) an easier tie next than it could have been. Wawrinka is the highest profile casualty so far.

I agree. That would be a huge match for Murray. Nishikori missed three Masters tournaments during the middle of last year and also didn't gain many ranking points at Roland Garros or Wimbledon - Murray needs a big gap over Nishikori going into that part of this season, to remain in the top 4.

Meanwhile in Indian Wells. A tough draw for Murray. After a bye in the first round - his potential route to the title: (R64) - Pospisil (R32) - Kohlschreiber (R16) - Gulbis (QF) - Nishikori (SF) - Djokovic (F) - Federer or Nadal His match against Pospisil should take place tomorrow.

I agree with most of your post and there will undoubtedly be some doping in Tennis and we can argue forever about how widespread it is. However, Murray's two Major wins were achieved in different seasons. Taking a couple of steps back, the original point was about the consistency (or lack of) of Murray and this point is valid regardless of the doping angle. I agree with phart that a clean player will suffer some dips in form during a season, but Murray suffers more than anyone and I think that is down more to personal to motivation than what substances his competitors may be taking. Between 2008-2011, Murray won eight Masters titles yet he's only won one since - why? Last season and without a tournament win for 14 months, it appeared that Murray would miss out on the Tour Finals - he then suddenly found a bit of form and won three tournaments in as many weeks to qualify. He can do it when he wants! I can understand him focussing on the Majors, but surely it would benefit him to be getting to finals more regularly and having a winning mentality throughout the season.

It appears that the few dozen ranking points that Murray gained by playing in the Davis Cup is enough to put him back to Nr. 4. This should be reflected in the seedings at Indian Wells - 'The Fifth Major' - later this week.

Not a big fan of the Davis Cup and feel it's an unwanted distraction from the tour, but was glued to the screen over the weekend. I don't like Isner's limited tennis style, so was certainly glad that Ward got the victory over him on Friday. Murray was really fired up for this event, which was good to see - hopefully he can keep that up in the coming weeks. The venue looked and sounded superb and don't know what the set-up is like at the Emirates, but is there any scope for it to host a regular ATP 250 event?

I really struggle to get into the Davis Cup, but agree - what an atmosphere! Cracking match between Ward and Isner - now in the deciding set.

With the usual suspects doing well at the weekend - Federer defeating Djokovic in the final in Dubai, Nadal winning in Buenos Aires and Nishikori reaching the final in Acapulco - Murray drops two places in the rankings to Nr. 5. Really not where he wanted to be and this will make a huge difference to his potential QF opponents in the upcoming back-to-back masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

CeltiKKK 1-2 Dons

Some unbelievable stats from this one - Murray only managed to win 5 points off of the Coric serve in the entire match?! That's worse than the doing he took from Fed at the tour finals in November!! Will be interesting to hear the post-match interviews...

Murray really struggling in the QF against 18 year old 'Lucky Loser' Borna Coric. Lost the first set 6-1 and has already had to save a break point in the second.

So, Murray squeezed into Nr. 3 spot after Nadal dropped ranking points in Rio. Unfortunately, it's likely to be for one week only as Murray is defending 180 points this week as opposed to Nadal defending zero points. However, the draw in Dubai couldn't have been kinder for Murray - the opposite half of the draw from Djokovic and can't face a top 16 player until a potential semi against Federer. Hopefully he's motivated enough!

Almost as bad as a 24 team Euros played in 13 countries. Football is mad!

Agree with this. Murray understandably aims to peak at the Majors, but his motivation during the rest of the year seems poor. Only one of his nine Masters titles has been won since 2011, which tells a story. The other top plays maintain a level of performance throughout the season, injuries aside, that Murray can’t match. There is a chance that he can move to 3rd by default after this week. If my calculations are correct, Nadal needs to reach the final of the 500 in Rio to stay in 3rd place. Big 500 tournament next week in Dubai - Djokovic, Federer and Murray all entered (Nadal opting to stay on the South American clay courts). Surely motivation can’t be a problem with for one!

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Didn't quite go to plan...

Over the festive period, 351 motorists were caught in Scotland and 20 of those were between the old and new limits.

Comfortable first round win for Murray in Rotterdam this afternoon. A wee incentive for Murray this week - if he wins this tournament, he'll move up to world nr. 3.

Two more joining the party, so now looking for four seats in total.

Another two from Hotel Faro looking for seats. Cheers.