Honesty is clearest in defeat, especially when Andy Murray is involved.

"I can't do loads more than what I'm doing".

It was a typically forthright statement from the Scot, who returned to world No 3 yesterday but who must be wondering what he has to do to get the better of Novak Djokovic.

For all the positives Murray will take from his latest performance against the world No 1, the brutal analysis is that in Sunday's Miami Open final, he came up short again, his 7-6, 4-6, 6-0 defeat giving Djokovic the title for a fifth time and giving Murray a growing headache.

His impending wedding this Saturday to Kim Sears will be a great day and a nice distraction, in tennis terms, a brief respite as he contemplates a rivalry which began when he and Djokovic were in their early teens but which now is so one-sided that "rivalry" may not be the right word.

There needs to be some perspective here. Djokovic is so far ahead of the rest at the moment that it's bordering on scary.

With the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami already under his belt, people are already talking openly about whether he could be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the Grand Slam of all four major events.

Beating Rafa Nadal at the French Open remains the holy grail for Djokovic and having the consistency and fitness to go through a year like Laver did may not be possible in this ever-physical era.

Murray won't be concerned about what Djokovic can or can't do but he will undoubtedly be racking his brain to think up ways to get one over on the man who at one time was considered a bit of a mental flake.

The Serb, a week younger than Murray, now leads their head-to-head clashes 18-8 but more worryingly, he has won their past seven meetings and their past 10 meetings on hard courts.

Murray's triumph at Wimbledon, when he beat Djokovic in straight sets, somehow seems more distant than just two years ago, the last time Murray was truly the dictator on the court.

On Sunday, armed with a new gameplan which included being much more aggressive on returns, paid dividends for two sets but in the decider, after more than two hours of gruel in blisteringly hot, humid conditions, Murray cracked first.

Losing a set 6-0 is never a nice feeling and though this one was far less painful than the one in Melbourne when Djokovic ran away with the last nine games, it will still have hurt Murray, who prides himself on his outstanding physical strength.

"Game wise, I feel like in a couple of the matches we played this year I feel like I've been able to hang with him, but just not quite for long enough unfortunately," Murray said.

"I need to try to work out why that is. I can't do loads more than what I'm doing to get myself in the best condition possible."

Probability and history tells us that somewhere along the line, Murray will beat Djokovic again.

The Serb is unlikely to be able to play at this level for that long; when he swept everyone before him in 2011 and won three of the four slams, he then struggled (slightly) in the following two years, winning "just" two more overall.

In 2012, Murray beat him in the semi-finals of the Olympics on his way to gold and at the US Open later that summer, he outlasted him in the final to win his first grand slam.

His Wimbledon victory in 2013 must have been as much pressure as anyone could be put upon in a grand slam, so despite the recent form-reversal, this is not a mental block.

In 2014, as he recovered from back surgery, we can probably write off the four defeats by his old friend and though Djokovic pummelled Murray in Indian Wells just last month, conditions in the desert have never been ideal for Murray.

In Miami, where he has a home and where he practises often throughout the year, he is far more at ease and for two sets, especially in a brilliant end to the second set, he played as well, perhaps, as since that Wimbledon triumph.

That he went away in the third set will concern him, of course, but his game-plan, taking the Djokovic second serve early and looking to come forward when he could, is surely the way forward.

His second serve was less vulnerable than it has been, until the final set, and though he missed some smashes, that's never been a strong-point of his game.

Where he knows he can improve is in his on-court demeanour and the way in which he shouts towards his player box.

Venting some anger is fine but it's a fine line between blowing off some steam and costing yourself energy, a line Djokovic usually treads very well.

Whether that contributed to Murray running out of gas in the final set or not, or whether it was linked to the psychological effort in staying with Djokovic, if Murray can find that balance, he'll surely benefit.

Coach Amelie Mauresmo and Jonas Bjorkman, who Murray hopes will join his team in the next couple of weeks, will have been further encouraged and though clay - the surface of choice for the next two months - is not his best, he will continue to build towards Wimbledon and the US Open, where his chances are that much greater.

His tennis is there. He's No 3 in the world, No 2 in the calendar-year Race to London - and he looks close to his very best again.

Murray has often spoken of being privileged to play in the same era as Nadal and Roger Federer, about how winning grand slams in their time is that much greater an achievement.

Djokovic deserves to have his name added to that statement, because by the time he's finished, his tally of eight grand slams will be well into the teens.