Andy Murray has confirmed he has split with coach Ivan Lendl for the second time in his career. The British star won three Grand Slam titles and two unprecedented Tennis Olympic Golds over two separate periods with the Czech legend. Their successful time together also saw Murray secure the World No. 1 ranking late last year, which he relinquished due to injury.
Since then Murray, 30, has struggled with his injury, suffering from a hip injury at Wimbledon and then missing the US Open completely. As a consequence of his injury plagued year, he has fallen from the top of the tree to a lowly 16th in the current rankings.
Murray has been most succesful under Lendl's leadership
In a statement on his Facebook page, Murray was full of grace and praise for the Czech’s hard work:
"I'm thankful to Ivan for all his help and guidance over the years, we've had great success and learned a lot as a team. My focus now is on getting ready for Australia with the team I have in place and getting back to competing."
During Lendl’s two stints Murray has improved no end, but Lendl wasn’t around all the time. And that showed on court. While Lendl was there Murray won 83% of his matches, while a lowly 69% while Lendl wasn’t there.
Murray wasn't happy Lendl didn't travel to all tournaments
It could be this that led to the split, as Lendl didn’t travel to every tournament with Team Murray. Although, the rest of the team travelled everywhere, it’s Lendl that Murray needed most.
Since they worked together the improvement in Murray’s second serve and forehand were beyond question. And his more aggressive mindset on the crucial points was also down to Lendl’s influence, as was his on-court behaviour.
The second split also leads to speculation there’s a personality clash. Murray’s former coach Amelie Mauresmo described Murray as complex, after they split. She was known to be frustrated with his on court outbursts.
Could Boris Becker fill Lendl's shoes
Lendl, who will continue to work with USTA Player Development, said: "I wish Andy well going forward. We had a great run and a lot of fun."
A diplomatic statement for sure, but what next for Murray. Boris Becker? Why not? He had a highly successful stint with Novak Djokovic, and would happily work with another top player. For now, Murray will continue to work with long term coach Jamie Delgado, and will go to Miami soon to build his fitness with an intense training schedule with the rest of his team, before heading to Australia in December ahead of Brisbane and the Australian Open in Melbourne in January 2018.
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