Murray addressed the issue on Tuesday: “Roger stopped working with Stefan at the end of past year because [Edberg] wanted to spend more time with his family”. She’s been a calming influence in the team and we will all miss having her around. But when it was decided that we were going to go for it together, I think it gave both of us a lift.
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Andy Murray could have a new coach in place in time for Wimbledon. And gradually, my performance reached such a height which helped me earn number two spot in the World.
“Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me”, said Mauresmo in a Facebook post on Monday.
His failure to retain his Madrid Masters title in a three-set final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday has pushed him back to No3 in the world, which robs him of the guaranteed advantage of starting tournaments at the opposite end of the draw.
Djokovic captured his fifth trophy of the year, as he defeated defending champion Murray for the 12th time in their past 13 matches to stand at 23-9 in their career head-to-head. He joined the camp after the Australian Open.
The two-time Grand Slam victor and Mauresmo ended their two-year partnership on Monday.
“I started very well and played terrific tennis in the first set”, said Djokovic. Still, Murray’s main concern is not to shock, but to find someone to guide him to a first Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2013.
“It did work. For two years the results that we had were good”, Murray said at the Italian Open on Tuesday, a day after the breakup was announced.
Murray camp’s insist the split is by mutual consent with the Scot, who became a father in February, fully understanding of her position.
Another worrying trend which Murray must try to buck is that he has yet to win a clay-court encounter between the pair, the Serb has won all five previous meetings on the red dirt, including their one previous Rome meeting, a three-set win for Djokovic on his way to the title in 2011. With Ivan, for example, I didn’t know him, and that came through [the commentator and coach] Darren Cahill. Theyve tried to make things work as they are fond of each other.
“Amelie has got Andy playing more offensively, and that’s exactly what he has got to do if he wants to be a Grand Slam contender”.
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He pointed out at Mauresmo not being in the players’ box at the Miami Open earlier this year in a match where Murray was shocked by the unfancied Grigor Dimitrov as the final straw. He also said that he “learnt a lot”. And while there’s zero indication that Djokovic’s relentless iron grip at the top of the sport will loosen any time soon, Murray’s level of play of late has generated notice that he will be a significant factor at the French Open.
