The 2014 Andy Murray tennis season began at the Qatar Open. He was defending titles in Miami and at Queen's Club, as well as at Wimbledon. However, he failed to retain any of these, losing to Novak Djokovic, Radek Štěpánek and Grigor Dimitrov at each of these tournaments.
His form improved in the latter part of the season, as he won 3 titles in 5 weeks at Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia. This saw him finish the year ranked world number 6.
Yearly Summary
Australian Open Series
Qatar Open
Murray made his competitive return to the tour at the Qatar Open, having been out injured since undergoing back surgery in September 2013. He faced local wildcard Mousa Shanan Zayed and took only 37 minutes to defeat him, not dropping a single game in the process. He then suffered a shock defeat to Florian Mayer in the following round. Having been in a commanding position, Murray lost 12 of the last 15 games to crash out in three sets.
Australian Open
Murray then competed at the Australian Open. He got his campaign underway in difficult conditions, with temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, against Go Soeda and saw him off in under 90 minutes, only dropping five games in the process. He next faced qualifier Vincent Millot and again won in straight sets, recovering from 5–1 down in the third to take it 7–5 by winning 23 consecutive points from set point down. Murray's first serious test came from Feliciano López but the top 30 player failed to trouble him as he secured another set victory, to set up a fourth round clash with lucky loser Stéphane Robert. Murray dropped his first set of the tournament in a third set tie-break but recovered to take the fourth and progress to the quarter-finals. There he faced Roger Federer, in their fifth meeting at a Grand Slam. Murray was unable to match Federer's level throughout most of the match and was defeated in four sets, ending his run of four consecutive Australian Open semi-finals.
Spring hardcourt season
Davis Cup First round
Murray then represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup against the United States in San Diego. He won both his singles rubbers, first defeating Donald Young and then securing the 3–1 victory on the Sunday with a win over Sam Querrey. It was the first time that Great Britain had reached the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup since 1986.
Rotterdam Open
Following the Davis Cup tie, Murray travelled to Rotterdam to play in the Rotterdam Open. There he overcame Édouard Roger-Vasselin and Dominic Thiem to set up a quarter-final encounter with Marin Čilić. Murray struggled against Čilić, playing for the three consecutive days for the first time since surgery, and was unable to find his best form as he crashed out in straight sets.
Mexican Open
After his defeat to Čilić, Murray next chose to play in the Mexican Open for the first time. He recovered from a set down in his opener to defeat Pablo Andújar, and then overcame João Sousa to reach the quarter-finals. Again, Murray failed to find his best form but still managed to record his 12th consecutive win over Gilles Simon. In his first semi-final since winning Wimbledon the previous year, Murray suffered a three sets defeat to Grigor Dimitrov. Murray took the first set but then lost two close tie-breaks as Dimitorv recorded his first win over Murray.
Indian Wells Masters
Murray headed into the first Masters Series tournament of the year still struggling to find form. Matters failed to improve at the Indian Wells Masters as he struggled past Lukáš Rosol and Jiří Veselý, before being eliminated in the fourth round by Milos Raonic in a match where Murray admitted he "wasn't good enough". Following the tournament, Murray mutually split with his coach Ivan Lendl, ending their partnership after two years together.
Murray offered to play with 2012 Wimbledon Doubles champion Jonathan Marray because Marray was unable to convince anyone to join him on court. Marray was struggling for full fitness and finding a regular doubles partner, travelling to tournaments with no plan whatsoever. After fans queued around the grounds to watch Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka play together, it was standing room only for Murray and Marray's first competitive match together. Andy Murray and Jonny Marray won a thrilling doubles clash against Gaël Monfils and Juan Mónaco only to lose in the second round to the No 2 seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.