IVAN LENDL FINALLY EXPLAINS HIS REASON FOR ENDING COACHING ARRANGEMENT WITH ANDY MURRAY

Written by: Staff on 25th August 2014

IVAN LENDL FINALLY EXPLAINS HIS REASON FOR ENDING COACHING ARRANGEMENT WITH ANDY MURRAY

epa03774674 Andy Murray of Britain and his coach Ivan Lendl (R) during a training session for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 04 July 2013. EPA/TOM HEVEZI |

Nearly six months after “The Spilt ”

Ivan Lendl has revealed the main reasons behind ending one of the most effective player/coach relationships that realized the Olympic gold medal before the 2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon titles. Other than making the briefest of statements back in March, Lendl has always kept his own counsel on the why he told Murray the partnership had to come to an end.

Then he said: “I just couldn’t commit enough time to do the job properly.” But now he is prepared to elaborate and reveal that his reasoning was twofold; his family situation changed with his mother being widowed late last year and the acceptance that the hat-trick of notable titles won by Murray was a tough act to improve upon.

Lendl drove from the home he is selling in Connecticut to New York over the weekend, in order to spend some time with the realigned Team Murray.

“Just doing 20 weeks a year was hard for me,” he said. “And you know, with Andy, after his back surgery and after winning Wimbledon and all that, I felt that if anything he needed more time rather than less time.

“Everyone is different, and when you win a big tournament like Wimbledon, it’s not easy sometimes. Some people find it more difficult than others, and I’m glad Andy found Amélie Mauresmo who can give him the time he needs.”

Initially the plan was for Lendl’s mother Olga to relocate to the United States but after a while she decided to stay at home. Lendl said: “I need to go to Prague more often now to see my mother, who was 79 this month.

And my youngest daughter has also returned home; she is 16 and had been staying with horse people, because she does a lot of horse-riding, but now she is living with us again.”

Lendl makes no secret of the fact he also hates flying – recently during a senior tour of the United States he opted to make the eight hour drive between two tournaments rather than catch an hour long specially chartered flight laid on for the other players.

“The planes are a pain,” he insisted. “As for the places and the hotels, England was good, Australia was great, and here it was all right. It was the smaller trips. It’s a big change to your life when you do stuff like that.

“In the end Andy and I sat down and I said: ‘Look, if you can come up with a way how it can work please let me know’, but neither one of us could figure out how to do that.”

Topics: Andy Murray, Coach, Ivan Lendl, Tennis

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

August 25, 2014 at 9:27 am

IVAN LENDL FINALLY EXPLAINS HIS REASON FOR ENDING #COACHING ARRANGEMENT WITH @andy_murray- http://t.co/XTdO8fxYmy #tennis @IvanLendlIJTA
Alceep says:

August 25, 2014 at 9:36 am

RT @10sBalls_com: IVAN LENDL FINALLY EXPLAINS HIS REASON FOR ENDING #COACHING ARRANGEMENT WITH @andy_murray- http://t.co/XTdO8fxYmy #tennis…