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| Andy Murray returns Virginia Wade’s barb by backing Amélie Mauresmo | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Andy Murray could see the punch coming and he did not flinch. But, in deflecting the inevitable question about Virginia Wade’s latest verbal dig at him, the Wimbledon champion landed a subtle counter-punch of his own on the eve of the tournament that ought finally to end what has become a tiresome debate about his appointment of Amélie Mauresmo as his coach. | Andy Murray could see the punch coming and he did not flinch. But, in deflecting the inevitable question about Virginia Wade’s latest verbal dig at him, the Wimbledon champion landed a subtle counter-punch of his own on the eve of the tournament that ought finally to end what has become a tiresome debate about his appointment of Amélie Mauresmo as his coach. |
| Asked if he were annoyed by assertions by the 1977 women’s champion that Mauresmo was “a little fragile mentally” and that he was trying to “mess people around” by appointing a woman to replace Ivan Lendl, Murray said: “No. She’s done it a few times before with me. It doesn’t surprise me.” | Asked if he were annoyed by assertions by the 1977 women’s champion that Mauresmo was “a little fragile mentally” and that he was trying to “mess people around” by appointing a woman to replace Ivan Lendl, Murray said: “No. She’s done it a few times before with me. It doesn’t surprise me.” |
| Murray, who opens the defence of his title against the Belgian David Goffin on Centre Court on Monday afternoon was referring to the French Open two years ago when back pain severely restricted his serve in the first set before he went on to beat Jarkko Nieminen in the second round and Wade called him “a drama queen”. | Murray, who opens the defence of his title against the Belgian David Goffin on Centre Court on Monday afternoon was referring to the French Open two years ago when back pain severely restricted his serve in the first set before he went on to beat Jarkko Nieminen in the second round and Wade called him “a drama queen”. |
| Murray hinted then it was a rift not worth healing, even though Wade and his mother, Judy, had been friends for a long time and he felt let down by the criticism of a former player who did not know what pain he was suffering. He eventually was forced to have back surgery and missed four months before returning to the Tour this year. As for Mauresmo’s supposed frailty, Murray said: “She was someone who struggled with nerves and conquered them later in her career, which when you start to coach someone, I think you can help more than someone that hasn’t had those issues before. She understands the psychological part of the game maybe more than some because of that.” | Murray hinted then it was a rift not worth healing, even though Wade and his mother, Judy, had been friends for a long time and he felt let down by the criticism of a former player who did not know what pain he was suffering. He eventually was forced to have back surgery and missed four months before returning to the Tour this year. As for Mauresmo’s supposed frailty, Murray said: “She was someone who struggled with nerves and conquered them later in her career, which when you start to coach someone, I think you can help more than someone that hasn’t had those issues before. She understands the psychological part of the game maybe more than some because of that.” |
| He added: “She’s a very, very nice person. She’s very easy to speak to. She’s very easy to communicate with. She listens well. She’s firm, as well. So there are the reasons why I wanted to give it a shot, and hopefully it will work out well.” | He added: “She’s a very, very nice person. She’s very easy to speak to. She’s very easy to communicate with. She listens well. She’s firm, as well. So there are the reasons why I wanted to give it a shot, and hopefully it will work out well.” |
| Murray found an ally in the reigning but retired women’s champion, Marion Bartoli, whom Mauresmo coached during what was an extraordinary campaign last year. | Murray found an ally in the reigning but retired women’s champion, Marion Bartoli, whom Mauresmo coached during what was an extraordinary campaign last year. |
| “Actually I met her this morning by Aorangi,” Bartoli said on Sunday. “We were talking about it, that she’s kind of the defending champion here and she has to defend a title. I think it’s amazing to see that a guy, one of the top players in the world, is hiring a woman to coach him. That is showing also the next generation that it is really moving on and women can coach some guys. | “Actually I met her this morning by Aorangi,” Bartoli said on Sunday. “We were talking about it, that she’s kind of the defending champion here and she has to defend a title. I think it’s amazing to see that a guy, one of the top players in the world, is hiring a woman to coach him. That is showing also the next generation that it is really moving on and women can coach some guys. |
| “Amélie won Wimbledon as a player and kind of as a coach without dropping a set with me last year, so … she is definitely on a good roll.” | “Amélie won Wimbledon as a player and kind of as a coach without dropping a set with me last year, so … she is definitely on a good roll.” |