Federer and Murray going low on the fizz

Miami: To borrow from the Americanese, we have had only Murray Lite and Federer Lite here in south Florida, not the full-strength, full-fat Australian Open finalists.

If Andy Murray has lost his enjoyment of tennis since the Australian Open, Roger Federer appears to have mislaid his timing and touch in the two months since he won his 16th grand slam title.

Murray has not been his usual self in the recent tournaments in America, and neither has Federer, whose fourth-round defeat in Miami by Tomas Berdych meant the world No 1 has won just three matches since defeating the Scot at Melbourne Park.

One theory about Federer's dip is that he has still not totally recovered from the lung infection which caused him to withdraw from an event in Dubai in February.