Andy Murray announces split with coach Lendl for second time
Former world number oneAndyMurrayannouncedhe has split with coach Ivan Lendl for the second time as he works towards regaining full fitness for the 2018 season. The 30-year-old Scot has enjoyed all of his Grand Slamsuccessundertheguidance of Lendl, securing asecondWimbledontitle last year andanother Olympic title in the second instalment of their fruitful partnership.
Overall, in his two spells with Lendl, Murray won three Grand Slams, two Olympic golds and reached the top of the rankings in a fearsomely competitive era.
“I’m thankful to Ivan for all his help and guidance over the years. We’ve had great success and learned a lot as a team,” Murray said on his website.
“My focus now is on getting ready for Australia with the team I have in place and getting back to competing.”
The statement said the deci- sion to endthecoachingrelationship had been mutual.
Murray, who has missed a chunk of the current season through injury, will continue to work on his fitness in Miami before heading to Australia ahead of the Australian Open.
“I wish Andy well going forward. We had a great run and a lot of fun,” said Lendl.
Lendl will continue to work in the field of player development at the US Tennis Association, where his group’s Patrick Kypson recently won his first professional event.
GOFFIN SETS UP SEMI AGAINSTFEDERER
David Goffin pummelled his good friend Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the semi-finals of the ATP Finals, where he will be facing Roger Federer.The Belgian, who was soundly beaten in his previous round-robin match by group winner Grigor Dimitrov, had a shaky start, losing the first three games, but conceded only two games after that in the entire match as he romped to victory in 71 minutes.
“It was a pity to play against Dominic, he is such a good friend and a nice guy. It’s never easy to play against a friend,” said Goffin
“After the first match against Rafael I wasted so much energy, I was not ready for Grigor, but I had a good rest yesterday and was ready for today and I hope I can do the same for the semi-finals,” he added.
Jack Sock will play Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s other semi-final.
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