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Murray ends partnership with coach Mauresmo

Murray reached two Grand Slam finals during his time with Mauresmo and also returned to world number two.

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Murray said: “I’ve learned a lot from Amelie over the last two years, both on and off the court. I was just in Singapore presenting the Women’s Tennis Association finals last week, so I would have to give up something in order to do coaching because it takes a lot of effort”, she said, as quoted by the Telegraph. Maybe unless I win a Grand Slam, then maybe ultimately that’s how people may judge whether it worked or not, but when she first came into the team, I was really struggling. It was the same for me when she also stuck by me, as did all those members of my team who are still with me now. In Miami, Mauresmo went so far as to experiment with sitting in the stands, away from the rest of the support staff in Murray’s player’s box, in the hope that it would help him focus.

Murray was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Madrid Open final on Sunday in a result that sees him slip from second to third in the world rankings.

Murray, who lost in the final of the Madrid Open to Novak Djokovic on Sunday, returns to action in the Italian Open on Wednesday against Mikhail Kukushkin – the Kazakh player coached by his wife Anastasia.

Murray became the first high-profile tennis player to hire a woman as a coach when he brought Mauresmo on board in June 2014.

He said: “I’m not sure she would have stay up to watch… but Amélie, this one’s for you”.

The 28-year-old Djokovic has now won 33 of the past 35 sets against top 10 opponents – a stretch of 15 matches.

Mauresmo, herself a Wimbledon victor in her playing days, became the first woman to coach one of the top male players. He won three Wimbledon titles and two US Open titles.

And the British World No 3 thinks the fact the duo have now split up should not be seen as evidence that it is hard for a woman to coach one of the top players.

“There’s a week after the French Open finishes and before Queen’s, so possibly at Queen’s I could try something out”, Murray told the BBC.

Upon hiring Mauresmo, Murray expressed that he has always had a strong female influence in his career, with his mother Judy – former captain of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team – the one to get him into the sport.

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Having spent just one week together since the Australian Open in January, Murray said his partnership with Mauresmo “just wasn’t working”.

Djokovic defeats Murray in Madrid to win record Masters titles