Andy Says That Under Lendl He Is A New Andy Murray

Written by: Staff on 2nd January 2012

Andy Says That Under Lendl He Is A New Andy Murray

Britain's Andy Murray returns the ball to David Ferrer of Spain during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at O2 Arena in London, Britain, 21 November 2011. EPA/ROGER PARKER |

Andy Murray is insistent he will be a changed man under the coaching wing of Ivan Lendl and admits he is finally ready to be given the hard words when required.

Hitherto Murray has always been reluctant to take advice and the general perception in Britain is that the world no.4 is happier to surround himself with subservient support staff who do not offer any form of criticism.

But at the Brisbane International, where Murray made his first competitive outing of the year in a doubles win alongside Marcos Baghdatis, the 24 year-old who was forced to retire hurt from the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, said: “A lot of people are maybe too nice sometimes.

“They just don’t want to upset you or say the wrong thing. But Ivan was very honest, very open and that was important.”

Murray has long been a student of the game and knew about everyone of Lendl’s eight major triumphs, the fact he spent 270 weeks as the world’s no.1 and was unsuccessful in his first four major finals.

“When he played he was a very hard-worker. He is also one of the most successful tennis players ever,” said the 24 year-old Scot.

“I liked what he said and how he felt about my game. I think he has been through a lot of the same things that I have been through, so I am sure he can help me mentally with certain things.”

Murray is unconcerned about Lendl having no prior experience of coaching a player on the men’s tour.

“The best coaches don’t always make the best players and the best players don’t make the best coaches.

“That is something that I am sure will be a challenge for Ivan and he seemed quite excited by that as well. He has never coached before and he was saying that he was willing to learn.”

Topics: Andy Murray