Sunday 12 June 2016

Andy Murray will work with coach Ivan Lendl from Monday

Murray and Lendl with the Wimbledon trophy
Andy Murray and former coach Ivan Lendl will work together again from Monday, the world No 2 has confirmed.

Murray worked with Lendl for two years, from 2012 to 2014, and during that time won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Olympic gold medal.

Since Lendl's departure, Murray has lost three Grand Slam finals.

Lendl will be with Murray for the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club, which starts on Monday.

Murray told Aegon Championships TV: "Hopefully it will be for a long time, from my side. He's coming over, he'll be here for the tournament and it's good for him to spend a bit of time with the rest of the team as well to see how things work out. But provided everything's good, it will hopefully go on for a long time.

"I think the most successful period of my career was while I was working with Ivan. I know what he can offer. The experiences he had, I think psychologically he helped me in the major competitions and they're obviously the events I'm trying to win and am competing for.

"I hope he can bring that same experience and those same benefits that he did last time."

Murray parted company with Amelie Mauresmo in May, and worked with Jamie Delgado at the French Open where he reached the final for the first time.

Lendl, 56, said: "I enjoyed working with Andy in the past. Andy and I have always stayed in contact so it should be fun to be part of his team again."

Lendl helped Murray improve his game, particularly on the forehand, but crucially also gave him the belief to beat the world's best on the biggest occasions.

He defeated Roger Federer to win Olympic gold and then saw off Djokovic in both the US Open and Wimbledon finals.

Murray's main motivation for rehiring Lendl is surely to try to help him break the stranglehold of Djokovic, who holds all four Grand Slam titles after beating Murray in the finals of both the Australian and French Opens.

Since splitting from Lendl, Murray has lost all five Slam meetings with Djokovic and also failed to beat his other 'big four' rivals Federer and Rafael Nadal over five sets.

But the 29-year-old's form on clay, culminating in a first French Open final, shows that his game is in great shape and he will hope Lendl can give him an extra edge at Wimbledon in two weeks' time.

"I'm sure we will talk about Novak because the goal is to try to win the major events and currently to do that you more than likely have to get past Novak," Murray said.

"That will be a big part of it. It's about developing your game so when you come up against the big players you are ready to do it and you don't just change your game for one match.

"I'm on the right track but I think Ivan will be able to help with some things. I don't think it's just mental. Novak is playing great tennis, it's as simple as that.

"The last few matches I've played against him, they are not all negative, there are a lot of positives.

"I'm getting closer. I think there's a few things Ivan will be able to help me with."

Lendl is expected to spend a similar amount of time with Murray as in his first stint but will maintain his role with the United States Tennis Association's player development programme.

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