Lendl See’s the BIG 4 As: Rafa, Federer, Djokovic and Andy Murray

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 7th February 2014

Lendl See's the BIG 4 As: Rafa, Federer, Djokovic and Andy Murray

epa04049670 Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after beating Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia during the first round Davis Cup World Group match between Serbia and Switzerland at the Spens Sport Center, in Novi Sad, Serbia, 31 January 2014. EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI |

Stanislas Wawrinka’s Australian Open victory might have broken the monopoly the Big Four – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer – in winning the Grand Slam titles that stretches all the way back to the 2009 US Open but the period of dominance is far from over according to Ivan Lendl.

Admittedly Lendl has a vested interest as Murray’s coach but he insists it is too early to say a new era is dawning in men’s tennis and insists the outcomes of the two upcoming ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series events, the BNP Paribas Open at California’s Indian Wells and Miami’s Sony Open, will provide a clearer picture.

So soon after back surgery, Lendl was not expecting his charge Murray to add to the US Open and Wimbledon titles he’s already won under the coaching of the Czech born naturalized American. And he said: “The Australian Open has always had a number of upsets over the years, it’s the first Grand Slam of the year and it comes round pretty quick.

“Stan played fantastic tennis, but we need to wait until next month to see how the season starts shaping, it’s a bit of a small sample to make a conclusion.”

And Lendl is convinced that by the time the action begins in Indian Wells and Miami, in just under a month’s time, Murray will be more than ready. “’He showed he was a little bit short of preparation for the Australian,” said the coach. “He was a little bit fatigued because we had to do so many hours of fitness and tennis leading up to it. We tried to play catch up but I think that will start to pay a dividend around March.

For the time being Lendl is concentrating on his own tennis game rather than coaching Murray. On Wednesday in Kansas City with old rival John McEnroe he began the 12 stop PowerShares Series that also features Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors, Michael Chang, Pat Cash, James Blake, Todd Martin, and Mark Philippoussis. Then at the beginning of next month he will face Pat Cash at London’s Earls Court as part of World Tennis Day.

The schedule is hectic for Lendl but he’s enjoying himself . “I stopped playing for a while because of my back,” Lendl said. “For a while, golf filled part of my life very well, obviously on a much lower level than my tennis. I still enjoy playing tennis. One good thing about this series is we do clinics together and meet-and-greets. We travel together.”

Topics: 10sballs, Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, Atp, Ivan Lendl, James Blake, Jimmy Connors, John Mcenroe, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News