“I hope he reflects on yesterday because I thought he played some really, really good tennis. From a set and 4-3 down he sort of clicked up a gear. He was playing well in the first set, I mean he should have won the first set really as well. But I thought it was what he was doing with the stuff he’s been working on in practice, I thought that was the best – from what I have seen as well – as best as he’s hit the ball and what he was doing with it.
“I thought he was dominating on his forehand from the centre of the court really, really well. I thought he played better when he came forwards at the net than previous. So for me, those two elements were really good. Very aggressive on second serve, returning it.”
Had Murray beaten 13th seed De Minaur, Smith thought that he may have changed his mind about his game. “I think he was doing things much better yesterday and why it’s a shame he didn’t win, because then you feel those benefits more,” he explained. “When you lose, it’s more difficult to reflect on, ‘I’ve got a bit better again’, which I think he has.”
