Ivan Lendl Declares Murray Is The Best In The World

Written by: Staff on 9th July 2013

Ivan Lendl Declares Murray Is The Best In The World

epa03779643 Andy Murray of Britain celebrates a winner against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the men's final for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 07 July 2013. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

The world rankings may show otherwise but Ivan Lendl is insistent his charge Andy Murray has proved he’s currently the best player in the world with the Wimbledon title to add to the Olympic gold medal and US Open crown he won last year.

Not content to rest on any laurels, Lendl now maintains he is totally committed to making Murray an even better player that will dislodge Djokovic from his current no. 1 position and prove just who is the best tennis player on the planet.

“Under pressure right now Andy has two majors and a gold medal,” Lendl said in the wake of Murray’s momentous straight sets victory over Djokovic in Sunday’s Wimbledon final.

“Novak is a great player, don’t get me wrong. He has had a phenomenal last 12 months, basically since the start of 2011, so the rankings look at all of that. But if somebody has two majors and an Olympic gold medal, and everybody else has only one major . . .”

Lendl left the question hanging before adding: “Everybody can make their own opinion on that.”

Since surprisingly appointed as Murray’s coach on New Year’s Eve 2011, Lendl has fulfilled his brief of pushing the 26 year-old Scot up another level. Lend; continued: “I am not sure when Andy hired me if he had one grand-slam or two in mind. My goal was to get him over the hump of the first one and see how many he can win.

“I don’t have a number in mind, I don’t know how many he could win, but there’s one thing I can assure you and that is that I can see more room for improvement.”

Lendl flew back home to the United States yesterday and for the next couple of weeks he will concentrate on his golf, playing competitions in Connecticut. But thereafter it is Target New York.

The53 year-old reached eight consecutive US Open finals and this month he will start to turn up the practice heat as Murray prepares for another milestone, his first defense of a grand-slam title.

“I knew when I took him on how good he was, but I have been surprised because he is even better than I first thought,” Lendl said. “I can’t say I knew he was going to win a slam, but he has done and now it is a question of putting into place the things he needs to do to get better.

“I am going to dissect every match, look at the tapes and put some points of view to him. I want to be certain that what I observed with my own eyes during matches is backed up by the facts.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, British tennis news, Ivan Lendl, Wimbledon Championships