Lendl will try to halt Murray slump
IVAN LENDL may work a non-stop stint with Andy Murray from well before the French Open until the end of Wimbledon as the world No 1 tries to arrest his form slump. In the wake of his latest defeat, at the Mutua Madrid Open, Murray reported that his part-time coach will be arriving in Europe a week on Sunday to prepare him for Roland Garros. That will give them a full week together pre-Paris, and Lendl could stay on for the whole three weeks on grass that precedes Wimbledon. Asked if Lendl would go back to the States at any point, Murray replied: ‘I guess it depends how I get on there (Paris), if things go really well maybe not, but if they don’t then maybe he would go home for a bit.’ Murray has barely seen Lendl since his shock fourth-round upset at the Australian Open in January. Lendl was meant to be in attendance at the Miami Open in March, but Murray went down with a flu virus and withdrew. The Scot revealed that a Monday teleconference has become part of their routine. ‘I speak to him pretty much every Monday. I spoke to him three times the week before Monte Carlo,’ said Murray. ‘I spoke to him after losing on the Thursday of Monte Carlo, then again on the Monday, then the Monday of Barcelona and twice again this week. ‘I speak to him a couple of times per week. ‘I don’t know if Jamie (Delgado, his full-time travelling coach) talks to him on the phone every day but they certainly message every day.’ There is definitely a spark missing in Murray right now, and he has only next week’s Italian Open in which to gain some momentum ahead of Roland Garros, having lost in the third round in Madrid on Thursday. Murray’s three Grand Slam titles have all been won with Lendl alongside him, but he stressed his mentor’s prolonged absence was not a factor in his current slide. ‘This time last year I was predominantly with Jamie, nobody else,’ said Murray. ‘I stopped with Amelie (Mauresmo) here last year and things went very well on clay, so that’s no reason why things may not be going well right now. ‘I work with Ivan as I think he can help me. It has made a difference to my game most of the time when we’ve worked together. That’s not an excuse or a reason why I’ve been playing like I have. As a team we need to work out why that is. ‘There’s no blame on anyone, it’s down to me.’