Andy Murray admits he needs to find the right balance between aggression and conservatism if he wants to become a consistent player again.

The British No1 was comprehensively beaten in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 by Croatian teenager Borna Coric, who advances to the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Championships.

It continues a run of indifferent form which has also seen the Australian Open finalist lose in the quarter-finals of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam to Gilles Simon.

And the Scot believes his decision-making needs to improve in regards to when he should be aggressive, and when he should opt for a safer shot.

“I rushed in both matches and made too many errors early in rallies and this affected my style of play,” Murray told the media after his last-eight defeat.

“I was going for too much sometimes, and in others I was playing six meters behind the baseline. So there was no sort of balance there.

“That’s something I’m going to have to figure out, especially when I’m not hitting the ball as well as I would like to.

“If you’re trying to play aggressive tennis and you’re not hitting the ball that well, you need to know how when to back-off a little and play high percentage tennis.

“That’s happened to me in the last couple of weeks and I haven’t been able to adjust very well.”

Murray failed to earn a single break point and made 55 errors against Coric, who became the first teenager to reach the Dubai semi-finals since Rafael Nadal as a 19-year-old in 2006.

However, the British number one praised his opponent’s performance and thinks the Croatian has a bright future ahead of him.

Murray added: “He’s stronger now and he is serving with greater accuracy and power. He is also defending the court much better and his decision making has definitely improved.”