Monday 16 February 2015 18:58, UK
Sky Sports tennis expert Cowan says he is not unduly worried by Andy Murray's disappointing quarter-final exit to Gilles Simon.
Rotterdam was Murray's first ATP Tour event since his Australian Open final defeat to world No 1 Novak Djokovic in January.
The persistent Frenchman stood 1-12 against the two-time Grand Slam winner and unleashed one of his best performances to stage the 6-4 6-2 upset in Holland.
Murray confessed to getting off to a poor start and admitted he never found the rhythm to recover in a match the top seed was favourite to win.
But with Dubai and gruelling back-to-back Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami to come, Cowan believes the former Wimbledon champion will be refreshed and mentally ready for the challenge, despite calls from Murray's former coach Miles Maclagan for the player to recharge his "emotional batteries".
"When you come off the back of reaching a Grand Slam final you're physically and mentally not at your peak, but I didn't think it was anything to worry about long-term," Cowan told Sky Sports Tennis.
"I just think it was one of those performances where sometimes you just don't play well and when Murray doesn't play well, it affects him more than say like a (Roger) Federer or some of the other players that have a really big game because for Andy it is a lot about being physically stronger than his opponents.
"Certainly looking forward to Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami, I don't think it's a concern."
With the likes of Djokovic and Federer taking time out after a gruelling fortnight in Melbourne, Cowan feels Murray made the right decision to play in Holland as he aims to continue his rise up the rankings.
"I think it was the right choice (to play in Rotterdam)," he said. "I think looking ahead, he's not going to play in Monte Carlo because he's getting married the week before and he has to fill a certain criteria of 500 events.
"Murray's indoor record is second to none and I think for Andy, he wants to get higher than world No 4, so I think it was right move, it was a smart play.
"We need to put it into perspective. The top four have been so good for so long, and almost we take it for granted that they will be there every single week in the latter stages.
Dubai is a place where he is not as comfortable with because it's a little quicker. But Indian Wells and Miami, he's done well there before so they're going to be massive events for Andy to potentially go higher (in the rankings).
"If he plays badly in the next two events, then you may have to look a little deeper but I think just one bad performance when he's played so well at the start of the year - I don't think it's anything to be too concerned with.
"Dubai is a place where he is not as comfortable with because it's a little quicker. But Indian Wells and Miami, he's done well there before so they're going to be massive events for Andy to potentially go higher (in the rankings).
"We will see the rankings chop and change a lot and you definitely don't want to drop below four because if you're then five or six you got the possibility of playing Djokovic in the quarter-finals and right now you don't want to be playing Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
"There's plenty of good players behind Murray with (Stan) Wawrinka, (Kei) Nishikori and (Tomas) Berdych knocking on the door. It's certainly going to be very tough - not just for Andy, but for maybe Nadal and Federer - there is no guarantee they will stay in the top four."
