What Andy Murray's Loss to Novak Djokovic Means for Wimbledon 2016

Andy Murray hoped separating from coach Amelie Mauresmo would lead to major championship glory. It won't be happening at the 2016 French Open, however.

Murray bowed out after taking a 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 loss to Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final at Roland Garros. It was his first attempt at a French Open championship, having previously only reached a high of the semifinals.

The Brit committed 39 unforced errors against just 23 winners and failed to convert on seven of his 10 break-point opportunities. Djokovic, winning his first-ever French Open and completing the career Grand Slam, hit 41 winners and was dominant after the opening set.

Murray had come into Roland Garros flying high. After splitting with Mauresmo, he defeated Djokovic to take home the Rome Masters and returned to the world No. 2 ranking. It was a bit of a relief for Murray, who had failed time and again to take down Djokovic in recent years.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

"It’s nice to still be sort of achieving new things and reaching new goals at this stage of my career," he said, per the Telegraph.

Murray had made the French Open semifinals each of the last two years. The clay-court major was the only one he had yet to make a final in, dropping matches to Rafael Nadal in 2011 and 2014 and Djokovic last year. After years of struggling on the surface, he said he was beginning to feel confident in himself, per Paul Newman of the Independent:

"

Maybe I didn't believe enough in myself. I always thought clay was my worst and hardest surface, but then last year, getting some wins against the best players made me realize things a little bit more. My coaches had said to me that clay should really be my best surface, but it took me a long time to gain a little bit of confidence.

"

That confidence carried over to Roland Garros, where Murray overcame awful weather conditions to make his first French Open final. He defeated defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the semis and also took down Richard Gasquet and John Isner. 

Losing Sunday ensures Murray will reach his 30th birthday without completing the career Grand Slam. He's been to the Australian Open final so often it feels like only a matter of time before he comes through with a triumph. He's already won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and coming through with a surprising win at Roland Garros would have been huge for Murray's 2016 momentum.

As for what it means going forward, we'll have to see how Murray fares once the grass-court season opens. The carryover between clay and grass is relatively minimal. Murray became the first Brit in decades to win at Wimbledon, and it's historically been his best major. Six of the last seven years have seen him at least make the semifinals.

There is also a possibility Wimbledon could provide a first test for Murray and whomever he names his next coach.

Per Piers Newbery of the BBC, he said:

"

There's a week after the French Open finishes and before Queen's, so possibly at Queen's I could try something out.

I'm not going into a full-time relationship with a coach without having tested it and trialled it. I've done that with all of my coaches over the years and you do need a bit of time on the court together to see how the practice and the communication is going.

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These situations are always difficult to evaluate. Sure, Murray would carry some extra momentum into Wimbledon if he won at Roland Garros. How much? Probably not a lot.

The tournament doesn't get underway for another month, so it's hard to really put much stock into what it means going forward.

Who knows? After switching up coaches, Murray's been soaring on his own. Maybe getting another voice in there is all it'll take to push him to another Wimbledon title.