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| Andy Murray: I need someone who can motivate me and get me learning again | Andy Murray: I need someone who can motivate me and get me learning again |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Few athletes match Andy Murray for candour in defeat, and there is no escaping the honesty he needs now to confront what could be his toughest summer in a long while. | Few athletes match Andy Murray for candour in defeat, and there is no escaping the honesty he needs now to confront what could be his toughest summer in a long while. |
| It came as no surprise when Murray unburdened himself after losing heavily to the Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo in the third round of the Madrid Open this week, revealing wounds that plainly have festered since he split with Ivan Lendl in March. | |
| "I knew at the time it was tough," he said. "Normally you're the one that makes the decision. But this decision was kind of made for me." | "I knew at the time it was tough," he said. "Normally you're the one that makes the decision. But this decision was kind of made for me." |
| Indeed Murray has rarely known rejection. He has been in a stable relationship with Kim Sears for eight years and his close-knit support team, from his hitting partner and confidant, Dani Vallverdu, to his physios, conditioners and advisers, have been with him most of his career. There have been a few sackings, but Murray has been the one handing out the P45s and he has not done so lightly. | Indeed Murray has rarely known rejection. He has been in a stable relationship with Kim Sears for eight years and his close-knit support team, from his hitting partner and confidant, Dani Vallverdu, to his physios, conditioners and advisers, have been with him most of his career. There have been a few sackings, but Murray has been the one handing out the P45s and he has not done so lightly. |
| "The whole point of having a full-time coach is to bring that structure that involves a long-term plan and [willingness] to stick to it," he said. "I still have those goals in my head, the things that I want to try to achieve, but you also need help. All players need help, and that's why you'll find pretty much every single top player will have a coach, for those reasons." | "The whole point of having a full-time coach is to bring that structure that involves a long-term plan and [willingness] to stick to it," he said. "I still have those goals in my head, the things that I want to try to achieve, but you also need help. All players need help, and that's why you'll find pretty much every single top player will have a coach, for those reasons." |
| So, is there a new urgency to replace Lendl? "I've played slams without a coach before," replied Murray, "with Dani there, and done fine." | So, is there a new urgency to replace Lendl? "I've played slams without a coach before," replied Murray, "with Dani there, and done fine." |
| Murray has, indeed, soldiered on alone before with some success. He split with Miles Maclagan in July, 2010, continued with the part-time assistance of clay-court adviser Àlex Corretja until Indian Wells the following year, used Darren Cahill for that Wimbledon, where he took Rafael Nadal to four sets in the semi-finals (repeating the effort at Flushing Meadows), then took up with Lendl at the start of 2012, in time for the Australian Open. | Murray has, indeed, soldiered on alone before with some success. He split with Miles Maclagan in July, 2010, continued with the part-time assistance of clay-court adviser Àlex Corretja until Indian Wells the following year, used Darren Cahill for that Wimbledon, where he took Rafael Nadal to four sets in the semi-finals (repeating the effort at Flushing Meadows), then took up with Lendl at the start of 2012, in time for the Australian Open. |
| "Ideally I'd have someone there [for the French Open] but I don't necessarily want to start working with someone, like, three days before a slam. That's also not ideal. You want to spend a bit of time with the person beforehand. The French Open is still a big, big goal for me. I don't expect to have results, or play like [against Giraldo] when I arrive there." | "Ideally I'd have someone there [for the French Open] but I don't necessarily want to start working with someone, like, three days before a slam. That's also not ideal. You want to spend a bit of time with the person beforehand. The French Open is still a big, big goal for me. I don't expect to have results, or play like [against Giraldo] when I arrive there." |
| The notion that John McEnroe, up to his greying hair in TV gigs, might be an ideal high-profile replacement for Lendl is nonsensical, by the way – and Murray revealed they have not spoken about it – but was there anyone who could fill the void? | The notion that John McEnroe, up to his greying hair in TV gigs, might be an ideal high-profile replacement for Lendl is nonsensical, by the way – and Murray revealed they have not spoken about it – but was there anyone who could fill the void? |
| "I don't know, to be honest. You never know how player-coach relationships are going to work. There were a lot of people saying before I started working with Ivan that it wasn't going to work. It kind of shows you never know exactly how things are going to work out. | "I don't know, to be honest. You never know how player-coach relationships are going to work. There were a lot of people saying before I started working with Ivan that it wasn't going to work. It kind of shows you never know exactly how things are going to work out. |
| "But I think I can find a good replacement, someone who can motivate me and get me learning and improving again, because that's the most important thing. You don't want to stay still or go backwards at all. You always need to keep improving because the field gets better all of the time. That's why I need someone who's going to teach me new things, and help me learn. | "But I think I can find a good replacement, someone who can motivate me and get me learning and improving again, because that's the most important thing. You don't want to stay still or go backwards at all. You always need to keep improving because the field gets better all of the time. That's why I need someone who's going to teach me new things, and help me learn. |
| "You go into every match with tactics and a game plan. You need to make sure all the tools that are needed to carry out a game plan have been trained and practised enough so that you can carry it out, basically. If my game plan [against Giraldo] was to serve-volley for the whole match, for instance, you need to know how to do that and you need to have direction. Everyone needs that." | "You go into every match with tactics and a game plan. You need to make sure all the tools that are needed to carry out a game plan have been trained and practised enough so that you can carry it out, basically. If my game plan [against Giraldo] was to serve-volley for the whole match, for instance, you need to know how to do that and you need to have direction. Everyone needs that." |
| He added: "When you go through a little period when you aren't necessarily learning new things or anything like that, it can be tough. That's why I need to try to find a coach and the right one soon. | He added: "When you go through a little period when you aren't necessarily learning new things or anything like that, it can be tough. That's why I need to try to find a coach and the right one soon. |
| "I haven't spoken to any players or coaches about it. I've chatted to Darren [Cahill] a little bit, like I did before the Ivan thing, because he was pretty helpful with that. He's done it with other players as well. He has a pretty good idea what players' wants and needs are, so I've run a couple of things by him. But I haven't actually spoken to any individuals yet." | "I haven't spoken to any players or coaches about it. I've chatted to Darren [Cahill] a little bit, like I did before the Ivan thing, because he was pretty helpful with that. He's done it with other players as well. He has a pretty good idea what players' wants and needs are, so I've run a couple of things by him. But I haven't actually spoken to any individuals yet." |
| Was he not concerned that Giraldo's performance – which was impressive by any standards – revealed greater depth on the Tour, making progress in the first week of a slam more hazardous than in the past? | Was he not concerned that Giraldo's performance – which was impressive by any standards – revealed greater depth on the Tour, making progress in the first week of a slam more hazardous than in the past? |
| "To be honest, I think the depth isn't so different to what it was before. I think guys have definitely improved. Guys like [Kei] Nishikori. He has improved, and [Grigor] Dimitrov. Guys have got better but the depth has been there for a while. | "To be honest, I think the depth isn't so different to what it was before. I think guys have definitely improved. Guys like [Kei] Nishikori. He has improved, and [Grigor] Dimitrov. Guys have got better but the depth has been there for a while. |
| "The other things is the age of the players. The players on the Tour now have a lot of experience, because the average is much, much older. So they've played against top players before and had big wins. They know how to handle themselves when they're closing in on a big win, which before, when guys are, you know, 19, 20, 21 years old maybe didn't happen so much, but you still get guys like Dominic Thiem who can go and hit the ball very, very hard and cause upsets. So men's tennis is in a good place but I think the depth is still fairly similar." | "The other things is the age of the players. The players on the Tour now have a lot of experience, because the average is much, much older. So they've played against top players before and had big wins. They know how to handle themselves when they're closing in on a big win, which before, when guys are, you know, 19, 20, 21 years old maybe didn't happen so much, but you still get guys like Dominic Thiem who can go and hit the ball very, very hard and cause upsets. So men's tennis is in a good place but I think the depth is still fairly similar." |
| Murray has played in 42 finals, winning 28 of them, but he hasn't contested a trophy since he lit up Wimbledon last summer. Was that a cause for concern? | Murray has played in 42 finals, winning 28 of them, but he hasn't contested a trophy since he lit up Wimbledon last summer. Was that a cause for concern? |
| "Not really," he insisted. "That experience [of reaching so many finals] is still there and I won't lose that." | "Not really," he insisted. "That experience [of reaching so many finals] is still there and I won't lose that." |
| But surely it did not help to lose so lamely to the world No 46 Giraldo, fine striker of the ball that he is. "The thing is that playing matches like that don't help. I've had results like that leading into slams and done fine. I've lost at Queens before and done well at Wimbledon. I've lost early in these events and played well at the French. It's just that I would rather not. I would rather be in the latter stages of these events and going as deep as possible, because the more matches you play the easier it is to start a slam. | But surely it did not help to lose so lamely to the world No 46 Giraldo, fine striker of the ball that he is. "The thing is that playing matches like that don't help. I've had results like that leading into slams and done fine. I've lost at Queens before and done well at Wimbledon. I've lost early in these events and played well at the French. It's just that I would rather not. I would rather be in the latter stages of these events and going as deep as possible, because the more matches you play the easier it is to start a slam. |
| "You go in with a lot of matches very match-fit. It's much easier going like that, having played a lot of matches. Like last year, winning Queens and playing a couple of warm-up matches, it's a lot better like that than losing early a few times in a row." | |
| Next week Murray goes to Rome, where he could hardly have more mixed memories: rowing in a night match in 2009 with Juan Martín del Potro, who dissed his mother, taking Novak Djokovic to the limit of his resources in the semi-final three years ago, and last year's horror show, when he collapsed in agony on the dirt midway through his match with Marcel Granollers, finally acknowledging a back injury needed surgery. | Next week Murray goes to Rome, where he could hardly have more mixed memories: rowing in a night match in 2009 with Juan Martín del Potro, who dissed his mother, taking Novak Djokovic to the limit of his resources in the semi-final three years ago, and last year's horror show, when he collapsed in agony on the dirt midway through his match with Marcel Granollers, finally acknowledging a back injury needed surgery. |
| His history confronts him everywhere, as it does all players. He missed the French after Rome last year (a wise move, given he had won 18 of 24 matches there, but never against a top 10 opponent) – and returned to take Queen's and Wimbledon. How he would love to rewrite that chapter of his life. | His history confronts him everywhere, as it does all players. He missed the French after Rome last year (a wise move, given he had won 18 of 24 matches there, but never against a top 10 opponent) – and returned to take Queen's and Wimbledon. How he would love to rewrite that chapter of his life. |
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