Murray beat Djokovic in the final of the Miami Masters

Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey believes it is only a matter of time before the Scotsman wins his first major title.

Petchey says the win over Novak Djokovic at the Miami Masters proves he is close to a breakthrough.

"Andy's desire and motivation is to win a major and hopefully that will be this year," said Petchey.

"You have to go through the process of winning these big tour events and eventually one will come his way."

Murray captured arguably the biggest title of his career to date with a straight-sets defeat of Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday.

The British number one beat the third seed 6-2 7-5 in Miami for his third Masters title, following wins in Cincinnati and Madrid last year.

One of the biggest differences right now is the maturity and experience he has Mark Petchey on Andy Murray

Murray now heads back to Europe for the start of the clay-court season and Petchey believes the Scot's work-rate is pushing him closer to contention for a major title.

"He is clearly in a great place right now to win one, but Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have already won one and that counts in their favour right now," said Petchey.

"The fact that he made the final in Indian Wells, then backed it up with a win in Miami, says so much about his consistency and that he's one of the most feared players out there right now.

"One of the biggest differences right now is the maturity and experience he has.

"When I was working with him, he got through to the final of the tour event and lost, he won one in San Jose, but it's a massive step-up to get to a Masters final and win one."

Meanwhile, Murray says the upcoming clay court season will be vital if he is to improve his ranking and close in on the top two.

Murray is set to compete in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid in the build-up to the French Open in May, but has previously struggled on clay although he showed improvement last year when he won his first games at Roland Garros to reach the third round.

I have found clay tough the last few years, but my game definitely got better last year Andy Murray

"I want to try and improve my ranking," Murray said on his official website.

"I think the clay court season will be very important for me.

"On the hard courts, I think my game is up there with the top guys - on grass it definitely got better last year.

"But on clay, it hasn't been the same as them, and that's where they have picked up a lot of points.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Surely now it is only a matter of time before Murray wins a slam and moves to #2 in the rankings. Ben

"If you got rid of the clay court season's points, I think I would be very close to Roger, and not too far behind Rafa - I need to improve my results on clay.

"So I'll just try and work on my game like I have done on all the other courts.

"I have found clay tough the last few years, but my game definitely got better last year."

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