SO, the wait goes on. And in truth, Britain’s 75-year quest to find a male grand slam singles champion never looked like coming to an end yesterday.

Andy Murray was comprehensively beaten by Novak Djokovic, who was a worthy winner of a second major crown.

Murray was gracious in defeat, preferring to praise his Serbian opponent and friend of a decade rather than dwell too long on his own performance.

But the questions will already be ringing around Murray’s head.

Why was his display so poor? Why did he look jaded after a straightforward passage through the draw?

Why did he regress to the passive Murray of old after storming through to the Australian Open final playing assertive, aggressive tennis?

And, most importantly, what does he do now?

There are some things he can fix on the practice court – his backhand, normally his strongest side, looked vulnerable at key stages, for example – although technically his game is as good as the big three of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic.

More likely he will have to address certain issues between the ears.

His biggest crime was to play within himself, allowing Djokovic to dictate from the back of the court.

It is not the first time this has happened and he needs to trust himself and go for the big shots on a regular basis. He has been working hard on his forehand, flattening it out, and in previous rounds it worked a treat as he blasted opponents away with ease.

Yet, when it really mattered, he seemed content to take the safe option, ramping up the top spin in a bid to reduce the unforced errors.

It is also likely his sluggish movement is a mental issue.

Even the most routine footwork seemed beyond him and that is out of character for a player renowned as one of the best movers on tour.

It was, quite simply, a case of freezing on the big stage.

So, it is clear he has areas to address, yet it will be a pointless exercise unless he is receiving the best advice.

And that is the area in which Murray can make the biggest immediate gain.

He has been without a full-time coach since splitting from Miles Maclagan last August and, although he does work with Alex Corretja during the clay court season, he surely needs experienced advice week-in, week-out.

He currently lists best friend Dani Vallverdu as his coach but that is hardly a healthy situation as it is unlikely Vallverdu will dish out the criticism when required and, even if he did, would Murray listen?

The Scot needs an old hand, someone who knows what it takes to win a grand slam and someone who will be able to extract that extra ten per cent needed from a player who has all the attributes to challenge in at least three of the majors.

Federer turned to Paul Annacone when he recognised he was not making the most of his ability. Asking for help is the hardest part but Murray must not hesitate. He has time on his side and with the right advice he could still end one of the biggest droughts in British sport.