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Andy Murray, who lost to Borna Coric in the third round in Madrid on Thursday, isn't sure why his level of play has slipped.

The world No. 1 has won just one tournament this year, in Dubai in early March. He fell in the fourth round at the Australian Open and was upset in his opening match at Indian Wells, where he was hampered by an elbow injury. Now playing on clay, he lost to Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the third round in Monte Carlo, fell to Dominic Thiem in the semifinals in Barcelona and, this week in Madrid, he went down against the 20-year-old Coric.

“I definitely think I need to be concerned,” Murray admitted. “It's not always the worst thing losing a match, but it's sometimes the manner of how you lose the match that can be concerning or disappointing. I was disappointed to lose my match against Thiem in Barcelona, but felt like I competed really well, and did some good stuff in the match. Today [against Coric], I didn't really do any of that. That's concerning.

"So I need to think about exactly why that is, what I can do about it.”

Murray didn’t play in Miami because of his elbow injury, and took a month off.

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“That's no reason for how I played today [against Coric] and the past few weeks,” said Murray, who has been having problems with his serving since he returned. “When you do miss a period of time, the most important thing is to play. I didn't for a month. That set me back a little bit.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion will turn 30 years old on Monday.

Ahead of the French Open, Murray is set to defend his title in Rome next week.

“You need to have the correct ideas and understand why you're in the position you're in,” he said. “Hopefully I can do that with my team and play better in Rome and Roland Garros.”