Andy Murray’s breakthrough into the world’s elite tennis group is still far from complete. Coming into these Olympics the 21 year old was expected to turn the ‘tremendous trio’ of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic into a ‘fantastic four’. After his Cincinnati Masters victory over Djokovic a week or so earlier, expectation was high.

However unless he performs miracles at the US Open, that possibility will now have to wait until next season after his appalling first round exit in Beijing. The Brit, currently ranked No.6 in the world, lost in straight sets 7-6, 6-4 to Chinese Taipei’s Lu Yen-hsun, ranked 70 in the world.

Learn to avoid Andy Murray's mistakes with the Training for Tennis special report.

In 2006, when Roger Federer was at his most dominant, Murray was the only player along with Rafael Nadal to defeat the Swiss maestro. The world waited for Murray to accelerate up the rankings and challenge the two stars, but instead it was Djokovic, one week younger than Murray, who made the transition. In the 2007-2008 off-season Murray worked specifically on his strength and fitness conditioning which had previously let him down.

Lots of pilates, core strength training using medicine balls and cardiovascular training has certainly improved his general conditioning. His bones have also stopped growing as they were a couple of years ago so that has helped. Oh, and how can we forget the bicep curls he must have been putting in after he kissed his flexed arm in celebration at Wimbledon this year. His physical improvement has all been evident to see.

So why has it gone wrong in Beijing? Well, he still doesn’t look mentally strong enough to me. When Federer plays he delights in dismantling an opponent with an array of skill. When Nadal plays he delights in intensity, suffocating and goring his opposition. When Djokovic plays he delights in playing with astute balance, displaying fine technique and mental stability. Murray still doesn’t seem to have discovered his personality for the elite, which is crucial in a sport like tennis where you’re out there all on your own with more time to think than in other sports. There’s no set rules, you can be clinical like Borg or passionate like McEnroe. You just have to find what’s right for you and utilise it.

Olympic tennis has yet to capture the world but after this year’s Wimbledon final expect the tournament to really hot up towards the final, with or without dour Murray.

Tennis Players- Develop your game with this tennis training programme

Learn how to increase your mental strength in sport with this sports psychology training programme