Becker tells Murray to get out of his comfort zone

Although the British number one moved up to ninth in the rankings yesterday after winning the Open 13 in Marseille on Sunday, Becker believes he has to carefully watch his schedule and make sure everything is concentrated on peaking for the big events.

"It's great that he is winning in Marseille and Qatar but that is not going to make you the best player in the world," said Becker. "You aren't going to be the best player if you arrange your schedule around Marseille and miss the Davis Cup because of it.

"He said he was injured for Argentina and nobody can argue with that, but if he missed it because he was saving himself for Marseille this attitude is not going to win him a Grand Slam.

"You have got to want to play someone like David Nalbandian in Buenos Aires and beat him on his own patch. That is the mentality you need and from a mental point of view it is great training, putting yourself in the situations of the greatest pressure.

"I hope he makes it and he definitely has the talent, but he needs to do the things that train your mind."

At the tender age of 20, Murray has already won five ATP Tour titles but so far he has not gone past the fourth round of a Grand Slam or been on the winning side in the World Group of the Davis Cup.

He was not helped by the wrist injury that effectively wrecked three of the four Majors for him in 2007, and has had to watch his direct contemporary Novak Djokovic shoot to superstardom ahead of him.

"Tournaments like Marseille are great as warm-up events, but it is in front of a few thousand people and I don't think it was even televised outside France.

"Playing a Grand Slam with huge crowds and people watching round the world is completely different and that's what he needs to prepare himself for." Becker, who was attending the Laureus World Sports Awards, also believes that to achieve his potential in a Major, Murray needs an experienced coach as part of his overall team.

"I was surprised by his split with Brad Gilbert. Brad is one of the best coaches in the game. It's true that he talks alot at breakfast and that can get to you, but he has huge knowledge.

"When you are someone like Roger Federer with all his experience you maybe don't need a coach like Gilbert. But most players like Andy still need a very experienced and veteran coach that have been through it before because Grand Slams are on their own.

"They last two weeks, there is alot of tension and hype and it is alot to handle."

This week Murray has travelled to the 834,000 ABN Amro tournament in Rotterdam where Rafael Nadal is top seed. In the first round Murray faces Dutch wildcard entrant Robin Haase.