Murray opens up on parting ways with think tank

Differences in opinion led to Andy Murray parting ways with his long-term hitting partner and assistant coach Dani Vallverdu and fitness trainer Jez Green, the British number one said today. Vallverdu had been a near-permanent presence by Murray's side since the duo met at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain more than a decade ago.

But rumblings that all was not well in the Murray camp came to light following the Briton's decision to appoint twice Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo as head coach last June.

It led to Venezuelan Vallverdu and Green to snap ties with Murray in November. "The most important point in any team is that everyone has the same vision, everyone wants to move forward together," Murray told The Independent in Perth, where he is fine-tuning his preparations for this month's Australian Open. "I feel that's what I have now. Maybe the last four or five months of last year it wasn't like that. It's not as much fun travelling when that's the case. If everyone isn't right into it, that isn't how you want to work." Asked if Vallverdu thought he should have been promoted to the top job following the departure of Murray's former head coach Ivan Lendl last March, the world number six replied: "That's possible. "(But) if you look at last year I spent only one tournament... with Ivan, at the Australian Open. The rest of the time I was with Dani every single week. I didn't have another coach travel with me at all. "So he was the coach responsible for my training and all my practices at all of the tournaments.