HE will have watched it already.

Again. And again. The DVD of Andy Murray v Roger Federer (ATP World Tour Finals, O2 Arena, 2014) lasts 56 minutes. It does not quite add up to Oor Andy's finest hour. If one is traipsing through Oxshott in Surrey today and a howl is heard in the gloaming, then one can presume Murray has pressed play. Again.

It is part of the 27-year-old Scot's mindset, perhaps even his Caledonian psyche, to face defeat straight in the eyes. He examines it in every detail, winces at every flaw and slowly, but assuredly, learns from it. Murray's horror DVD collection contains such spine-chillers as Nadal (Wimbledon, 2008), Djokovic (Australia, 2011) and Federer (Wimbledon, 2012). But these were then. And this is now.

There are at least two valid reasons why Murray should consign the DVD of an awful night in London to the bargain bucket bin, if such a thing exists in Surrey. The first is the he has come far in the year since his back surgery. He has some way to go before he catches the Big Three, particularly the extraordinary Novak Djokovic. The match against Federer thus confirmed the obvious, albeit in a gruesome manner. It is an awful snapshot of the current gulf between the players, but not an accurate picture of their respective merits.

The second is that the thrashing last week resembles the past horrors in the way Les Dawson looks like Brad Pitt. Greg Rusedski, John McEnroe, Andrew Castle, Tim Henman and the bloke outside the Slug and Lettuce were all cued up to perform an autopsy on the still twitching body of Oor Andy.

But there is a difference from the similar inquests performed after Nadal (Wimbledon, 2008), Djokovic (Australia, 2011) and Federer (Wimbledon, 2012). It is this: then the question was whether Murray could perform at the highest level and win a major. He has answered that twice and thrown in an Olympic gold medal for good measure. There is a valid query about Murray's next step but none about the qualities that have taken him so far.

It is obvious that the Murray game is not at a top level. It is equally apparent that his top level is enough to prosper in Grand Slams. The former Wimbledon and US Open champion may, just may, find in his perusal of the DVD that a ball toss is just off or that he is not quite moving his feet quickly enough. It is far more likely, however, that any significant improvement in Murray's game may be attained in a more old-fashioned way, through recuperation and the revitalisation offered by time and thought.

"It is not panic stations," his friend and Davis Cup team-mate Colin Fleming said. "It is a disappointing loss but that scale of defeat can happen with Federer. Andy has had an incredible year. Remember, he had back surgery one year ago and yet is in the World Tour Finals."

There is no sign of any diminishment in Murray's zest for the game, though he looked physically drawn after a testing period that saw him win three of the six tournaments he contested at the back end of the season.

Fleming said: "There is no doubt he will be back competing for major honours in 2015. There will be an appetite to come back. You could see that by the way he spoke to the press after the match. He will not hide from this."

The doubles player from Linlithgow, who will be Murray's team-mate when the Davis Cup comes to Glasgow in March, added: "There is nobody better in a crisis. A match is not over until you have learned from it. Andy is great at analysis ."

However, the lessons may be more psychological than physical or technical. Murray has to find belief and decide precisely how he wants to approach another campaign. The confidence will come when he beats any of the Big Three.

But how to achieve this? His fitness will be improved by the Australian Open, but he must also find a way to play, a gameplan that he knows can confound Federer, Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, if the Spaniard recovers quickly from surgery.

This entails working closely with his coach, Amelie Mauresmo. The Frenchwoman was the subject of criticism in the wake of Murray's defeat to Federer, the perception being that she has made Murray more passive than in the testosterone-fuelled days of Ivan Lendl.

It may be, though, that the relationship is still far from fully formed. Djokovic has spoken about how it took five or six months before his partnership with Boris Becker was defined. Mauresmo, at least, deserves the same dispensation.

Murray can watch the DVD, but the way forward is to have a more personal reflection. He must decide how he plans to take on the world. He has won his slams, he has taken Olympic gold and he has come back from depressing defeat after defeat. The peak of the mountain will seem far away, but it has been climbed before.

The distance between him and the summit may be a cause for frustration, but it can be traversed.