Mauresmo’s faith proved great influence on Murray’s red- hot form
WORLD No. 3 Andy Murray credits Amelie Mauresmo for the incredible form reversal that has left the Scot confident of a second Wimbledon crown, only eight months after suffering one of the worst losses of his career.
Murray was embarrassed 6- 0, 6- 1 by Roger Federer at the Barclays ATP Tour Finals in November amid suspicions Federer gifted Murray a game late in the second set.
The hammering plunged Murray into off- season introspection as doubts swirled over the state of his battered body.
Murray soon after parted company with several of his longstanding support staff but – Mauresmo, now heavily pregnant with her first child, stayed.
“I had an extremely tough loss at the end of last year and Amelie was one of the people that really stuck by me and supported me,” Murray said.
“I’m glad that I’ve been able to kind of repay her faith in me with some good tennis this year.”
Fellow Wimbledon champion Mauresmo has cut back travelling and training commitments because of the pregnancy, paving the way for former world No. 4 Jonas Bjorkman to join the Murray camp.
The Swede’s influence is already paying dividends with Murray adding Queen’s to the Munich and Madrid claycourt titles in a stunning form surge.
“Some of the things I wanted to work on in my game I felt like he ( Bjorkman) could help me with because of his experience and playing that way, trying to come forward more and being aggressive on the returns,” Murray said. “He was extremely good at that.”
Champion at Wimbledon in 2013 and Olympic gold medallist at the All England Club the year before, Murray landed in a congested bottom half of the draw where seven- time champion Federer also looms.
The pair is seeded to clash in the semi- finals.
Both enter the tournament as last- start winners on grass — Federer in Halle at the Gerry Weber Open, Murray in London at the Aegon International.