Doubles not valued enough, says Jamie
JAMIE Murray has accused the Lawn Tennis Association of undervaluing doubles and especially coach Louis Cayer.
The Canadian has been working with Murray for much of the past decade after Judy Murray spotted him giving a coaching session in MonteCarlo and recruited him for her son and the LTA.
Cayer works in coach development for the LTA, is part of Leon Smith’s Davis Cup backroom staff and will head up the new national academy in Loughborough when it opens this year alongside Nick Cavaday.
But Murray feels he is seen as a doubles specialist within the LTA and should be performance director. That role is held by Simon Timson, who was recruited from UK Sport in 2016.
“He should be doing that job,” said the Scot. “As a bare minimum. At least that or he could be in charge of coach education. He’s been working at the LTA for like 10 years. It’s been great for me because he’s pretty much been working with me one on one. He’s obviously been doing some other stuff but that’s not getting the best out of him.
“For the greater good, he could be doing a lot more and having a lot more influence and effect on British tennis if he was in the right position and being listened to.”
Cayer is regarded as one of the pre-eminent tennis coaches in the world and Murray believes his influence can be seen in the fact Britain has seven players in the top 60 in the men’s doubles rankings – more than any other country.
Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares were given a major battle by two of them, Jonny O’Mara and Luke Bambridge, in the second round of the Australian Open before coming through 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Six of the pairs to reach the second round featured at least one British player, with Joe Salisbury joining Murray in the last 16 with his American partner Rajeev Ram.
Comparing it to singles, where Johanna Konta, Katie Boulter and Dan Evans all lost in round two, Murray said: “You’ve got three people
in the second round but we’ve got six different doubles teams in the second round and I think that’s important.
“They should celebrate more the success of the doubles because that’s the thing they’ve clearly got to be most proud about. [We’ve got] the most in terms of numbers. But that wouldn’t be talked about unless I said something.”
Soares has also benefited from Cayer’s wisdom.
“He’s by far the best coach I’ve worked with. His tennis knowledge is insane. Every guy that he works with, they improve, no matter what. It’s a treat to work with him,” he said.
Murray cited Smith as someone within the governing body who does understand Cayer’s worth, and he said in response: “Louis is a worldclass coach and a fantastic asset to us.
“He plays a leading role in how we nurture the next generation of players and coaches and is pivotal to our success. We are also proud in how we support our best doubles players in a unique and innovative way as a federation.
“At the LTA we have an excellent new 10-year performance strategy, developed by our senior performance team. This includes launching two new National Academies in 2019, and Louis will be playing a leading role in del i ver i ng one of t hem in Loughborough.
“Under [ chief executive] Scott [Lloyd’s] leadership I’m incredibly confident we have the right people in the right roles and the LTA is heading in the right direction.”
Murray’s tournament began with a rare court-side appearance for what could turn out to be his brother Andy’s final professional match against Roberto Bautista Agut.
“I don’t really like it,” he said. “But he asked me if I was going to watch. It’s draining. I knew it’s a big match for him. No- one knows what is happening going forward. I was glad I was there.”
Murray and Soares will face Germany’s Kevin Krawietz and Croatian Nikola Mektic in the third round, while the Scot is also looking to win a second consecutive mixed doubles title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
For the greater good he should be doing a lot more and having more influence