Andy Murray Wants To Keep Lendl As Coach

Written by: Staff on 14th December 2012

Andy Murray Wants To Keep Lendl As Coach

epa03458986 Andy Murray of Britain returns to Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic during their match the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Britain, 05 November 2012. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

There is nothing like extreme physical exertion to clarify the thought process and US Open winner and Olympic champion Andy Murray has come to a decision as he endures sweat soaked hours at his Miami training camp. The Scot wants Ivan Lendl to remain his coach for as long as he stays amongst the elite of men’s tennis.

Murray, aged 25, believes he has another five years as a contender for the game’s major honors and after a succession of different coaches including Mark Petchey, Brad Gilbert, Miles Mclagan and Alex Corretja, believes he has finally found the right man in Lendl.

The pair are approaching their first anniversary together after Lendl’s New Year’s Day appointment and Murray said: “Ivan and I have a very good relationship, it’s very honest and open, that’s why it has worked so well and why both of us are planning long term.

“We spoke at the end of last year and it was much more short term — ‘Let’s see how the first few months of the season go’. Now it’s, ‘What are we going to be doing in four or five years’ time?’”

Although Murray was faced with a semi-final disappointment in their first major together – January’s Australian Open – he finally realized things were moving in the right direction. And ever since, his mood and self-belief has improved.

Speaking of the relationship with 52 year-old Lendl he said: “I knew it was working after the Australian Open. The night after I lost the semi-final, he just seemed to know what I wanted.

“Sometimes in the past when I’ve lost big matches I know I’m not good company but he made sure that everyone was around me and I wasn’t just left on my own.

“We spoke the next day and he said: ‘These are things we can work on, I know it’s tough to say them today because it was a close match.”

Now Murray and Lendl are simply adding the finishing touches to their preparation before the new season starts at the upcoming Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi that runs from December 27-29.

“There’s going to be downs as well as ups, but I hope I’ll be in a position to play for grand slams in the future,” said Murray. “The US Open was a huge motivation for me, because I realized after that match that all of the stuff that we do here, that it was all worth it in the end.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Alex Corretja, Andy Murray, Australian Open, Brad Gilbert, British tennis news, Ivan Lendl, Mark Petchey, Miami tennis news, MIami training camp, Miles Mclagan