Murray ready to compromise in bid to reunite with mentor Lendl
ANDy Murray says he could be willing to ‘make compromises’ if he enters discussions with Ivan Lendl about returning as his head coach.
In the wake of his Italian Open triumph on Sunday, the restored world No 2 also spoke of how splitting with Amelie Mauresmo had cleared his mind, helping to produce the outstanding performances in Rome.
After celebrating his 29th birthday on Sunday night with his team, wife Kim and mother Judy, Murray flew back yesterday to spend one night at home before heading to Paris for Roland Garros. En route he planned to discuss coaching options — including Lendl — with his support group, in which Jamie Delgado has assumed increasing importance.
Murray said: ‘I’d love to work with Ivan but the time was the issue. If it can work then I’d love to do it but it has to work for both of us. People who have been No 1 in the world know the amount of time it takes to make an impact.
‘To be fair to Boris Becker he is there with Novak Djokovic a lot. He’s dedicated a lot of time to it. It’s the travel that’s normally the issue. I’m willing to make compromises where I train and stuff. It was good in Miami because Ivan’s close to there.
‘It’s unlikely something will happen before the French but the grass is three weeks away so there’s time. Maybe I will try to speak to a couple of people next week if the team have some agreement.’ The way he has played with Delgado coaching him suggests there is hardly a rush. As you would expect from someone who played 23 consecutive Wimbledons from the juniors onwards, Delgado knows a thing or two. He has already established himself as a respected coach working with Luxemburg’s Gilles Muller.
Clearing up the Mauresmo situation has also been key and Murray is often at his best with a point to prove. ‘Having a bit of clarity and knowing what you are looking at moving forward is important because we hadn’t seen each for a long time and things were working well with Jamie,’ said Murray, hinting at previous strain.
‘It can free you up a bit because if you are thinking about something a lot, especially when it comes to someone you are working with that’s unhappy, or something’s not working well, thoughts come on the court and you can lose concentration. So although it’s unfortunate, it’s good that I have a clear head.’ It has been fascinating to see Murray’s extraordinary calm in beating Novak Djokovic compared to the agitated figure in Monte Carlo, where the coaching situation was weighing on him.
After the Mauresmo split was revealed last week, many of those preoccupied with gender issues in tennis rushed to proclaim that their groundbreaking female-male partnership had been a huge success.
A more measured analysis shows that while it had some good moments and saw some impressive consistency, it was no overwhelming triumph by the high standards Murray expects.
The Scot played 35 tournaments while with Mauresmo (excluding Davis Cup) and she was only present for half of them. In that period Murray’s record against top five players was 8-20 and 1-15 against those in the top three. Improving those figures will determine whether he can win any more Grand Slams.
PETER KEEN, former head of British Cycling who has been acting as interim performance director at the Lawn Tennis Association, has decided not to apply for a permanent role.