Great point, that along with his demeanor at times giving off negative vibes, and his ability, although not as often as he used to on being easily distracted/letting a refereeing decision or unlucky break get to him which can sometimes last a few games, this he can get away with against the lesser players but not the top three, the serve is very important as has always shown and there have been players today and in the past who have made it to the top of the game with serve alone and not much other attributes, but the very best have the game and the serve, look at the likes of McEnroe, Becker, Sampras, Lendl, Ivanisevic, Edberg, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Borg, all had fantastic serves it gives you free points as Murray has said on many occasions when he serves well, its no surprise that when he beat Djokovic and Federer to win Olympic gold at Wimbledon his serve was at a high level as was US Open Final, and Wimbledon 2013 final vs Djokovic for majority of all these matches, and during Wimbledon 2012 final vs Federer and Australian Open final 2013 vs Djokovic he served at high level but only for 1st two sets of both these matches but didn't last whole match, possibly due to combination of pressure and tiredness, but when he does this in the big matches consistently all match he generally wins but it doesn't happen often enough, you only find the top three failing to take their best service game to the table on very few occasions, as to why they hardly ever lose to anyone outside the top four while Murray has lost to the likes of Ferrer/Soderling/Tsonga/Wawrinka, etc on quite a few instances, he needs to have his serve at a high level on a consistent basis to trouble the big three otherwise he will struggle to win many more majors, it gives you free points which takes the pressure off you and throws it right back to your opponent, but demeanor is also important when you look at the totally different contrasts between his cool/calm/collected attitude at Wimbledon semis and final last year vs Jerzy and Djokovic and his quarter-final this year vs Dimitrov, night and day.

I appreciate your points and mostly agree Murray, but the question remains unanswered. Since its clear how important the serve is to Andy, particularly the second,is it not just a question of working it out in training, practicing it till he gains the confidence to produce a decent second serve? The fact that he doesn't appear to do something about it, any speculations as to why is that? And why doesnt Amelie help him fix this?
I think most would agree with an improved serve Andy has the weapons to challenge for top spot. As to his attitude... he is what he is... Though with Lendl's mentoring he did appear to improve on that front.
Its interesting to note that Andy can and does produce his best tennis when he's behind, back to the wall situations, and slackens when he's ahead. This leads to wonderful but also frustrating roller coaster games Shanghai and last night, the most glaring examples in the games v Ferrer.

I think we are maybe also being a bit harsh on both Andy and Amelie, Tway. Amelie has only been with Andy for a short period and it coincides at a time when he is just recovering from a major operation from a tennis players standpoint, in his back, Ivan came in at a time when he was fully fit and only a few tweeks here and there were required, which were important to Andy finally becoming a winner, and it took over a year or so working together to achieve this, I could be wrong but I think over the next year or so we will see not only Andy get back to his very best but also the influence that Mauresmo contributes to his game, Andy has already said that what Ivan added to his game will stay with him, that has now clicked in his mind, but I have always thought to myself that I feel Andy wouldn't be either physically or mentally where he was when he won at Wimbledon 2013 until at least the summer/Wimbledon next year and I think the same goes for Amelie's involvement maybe even later still, as it takes a while not only to recover from this sort of surgery to play at a professional level, but another level to compete with the top four takes more time still both physically and mentally, I think he realised this for the first time at Wimbledon this year when he was dominant in the first week then all of a sudden it just hit him that he wasn't quite ready to move up another level.
I think when he reaches that level his serve will also improve as the back is obviously an important part of the body for this part of the game, and maybe he has been a bit wary by not putting too much into this area of the game too soon but gradually stepping it up each time he plays, I envisage Andy will be happy to give this injury plenty of time to mend making sure he does reach the level he was once at as he is the one who had to endure this back pain for a few years before the op. and it must have been causing him problems before he had to go so far as get the op. in the first place.

Not sure I totally understand your arguement re slow recovery required. Not when he has been a double tourney winner in the last weeks. He actually has said at Shenzhen that he is back to top fitness.
What Im saying is ...and i wish i could tell him directly: You want to play with the big boys especially with London looming, then fix that serve. Atm it guarantees 20 free points per match or equivalent of double faulting 20 times. My question still stands : With this being so obvious why not do something about it. Asap!
I'm not asking him to climb The Eiger, just when you do your normal practice routine. (by all accounts 5 hours a day on the courts, not when in compo of course) spend some time fixing your dire weakness ...and the sooner the better. Or are we your supporters going to continue watching you offer a generous handicap to all opponents?
BTw What a wonderful match that was against Ferrer at Vienna. Outgunning and breaking the talented Spaniard indicates top fitness and desire.

I don't think we know what he works on in training.

It could be that he works on it plenty but he's just lost his serve mojo in matches, could be he thinks he should be working on something completely different.

I think he lost a lot of motivation after winning Wimbledon and is really struggling to recapture that, plus the operation was a serious one.

I hope the partnership with Amelie works, but careers are short, he cannot afford for it not to and then have to start all over again, he will run out of years.

Murray manages with his serve in the early rounds of tourneys as he is one of the best retrievers. When it comes to battling the top ten players , particularly at tie breaks he is clearly at a disadvantage. If he could find a way to improve the second serve, I think he could stay consistently at the top level of the game. Simple really, but apparently not so... Until he fixes the problem, the Dokos, Feds and Nadals will enjoy themselves, most likely with wry smiles.

Tennis without Nadal is boring so I am not watching tennis until the Mallorcan comes back!Happy new year!

Well CR7 if you can hang around until the French Open begins I can vouch you will see him there, I could put my house and everything else of value on that one, as he wouldn't miss that, nothing not even an earthquake, tornado, or any disaster that has ever been brought up in a Hollywood movie will stop him.