Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl split

Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl announce that they have mutually agreed to end their two year coaching relationship.



http://www.andymurray.com/news-and-blog/andy-murray-and-ivan-lendl-announce-that-they-have-mutually-agreed-to-end-their-two-year-coaching/


Have to say I did not see that coming

has Andy learnt enough from Lendl and can he keep on pushing himself to develop going forward?

Wow, that really is quite a surprise.

I guess it was a pretty heavy commitment for Lendl time-wise, and reading between the lines of the announcement it would seem that he finds it too restricting in relation to other stuff going on in his life ; so perhaps the split was driven much more by Lendl than Andy.

I was about to write a piece on Andy and Ivan and whether they had reached as far as they can.

My view is that it is a good move. Andy clearly needs someone to help him work on his tennis. Ivan has helped Andy massively mentally, but I think this is the best move going forward.

Also it is unknown whether Ivan could commit himself more to being with Andy on tour.

Certainly comes as a surprise - as lags mentions above, perhaps more to do with Lendl not enjoying the time commitments involved and also perhaps considering Andy's USO and Wimbledon titles it all being a bit 'job done'.

Interesting where Andy looks for his next coach - I'd really like him to go back to go forward a bit and actually reintroduce more variety into his play rather than relying so heavily on his athleticism. Oh, and to get a decent second serve. The problem is that the best candiate I can think of is already employed by Federer...

More from BBC:

Under Lendl, Murray, 26, won his maiden Grand Slam title and Olympic gold in 2012 and then won Wimbledon in 2013.

"I'm eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work. We've learned a lot as a team and it will be of benefit in the future," said Murray.

"Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience. He is a first-class guy," said Lendl.

"Having helped him achieve his goal of winning major titles, I feel like it is time for me to concentrate on some of my own projects moving forward including playing more events around the world which I am really enjoying.

"I will always be in Andy's corner and wish him nothing but great success as he too goes into a new phase of his career."

I was going to comment after Murray lost in Indian Wells and said his confidence was low that it was time for Lendl to earn his corn again in getting that belief back. Certainly didn't see this coming. I find it concerning that it has happened at this time as I feel that Murray seems to be a bit lost present and needs stability in trying to get back near the top.

It sounds like it's more Lendl wanting to do other things rather than Andy firing him. Though to be fair it could be the story is being manipulated to come across like that...

Personally I'm very disappointed. Lendl made him a better player. 4 slam finals in a row, winning 2 and an Olympic gold is a great record. He helped him realise his potential. He dragged Andy kicking and screaming closer to the baseline and more on the front foot. I hope he doesn't revert now.

I definitely think Andy needs an ex-player, been there done that type coach. An attacking ex player, like an Agassi... Although that's probably unrealistic. Someone of that ilk.

I must say that coming back from surgery and his struggle for form, splitting from Lendl... It's very uncertain times for Murray. I really have no idea what the future holds.

Hmm, not sure what to make of this. On the one hand I haven't been convinced by the direction Andy's game has been heading over the last year or so. On the other, he seems at a low ebb now so it seems a poor time to change. Be interesting to see if there is a continuation plan in place.

I'm with Danny in that I think a top ex- pro probably suits him best. Agassi style wise would be a good fit but he doesn't strike me as the coaching kind. What about trying to get Pistol Peter in his corner for a year or so? Gotta think the 2nd serve would get sorted out then.

BS
Sampras was my second choice for Andy's next coach - just don't see it happening though (then again, same was said for Lendl).

IIRC Sampras said he wouldn't coach as he didn't want to go on the tour again. I can't remember where I saw the article. I think it was Pete said something of the pressure on Murray on the BBC website.

Wow, I didn't see that coming!

In some ways though, it's not a huge surprise. Lendl is a wealthy man who enjoys the fruits of his success and seems happiest on the golf course. He doesn't need the job of coach and all the commitment it entails. I suspect he took the job on because he fancied a personal challenge and fancied dangling his toe back in the water of the tennis world again.

The success he and Andy had means there isn't really anything left for him to prove. If his enthusiasm is waning, it's right that he resign from the role.

It's hard to say what this means for Andy. In one sense, he's got what he needed from Lendl. The development as a person and a player that Lendl assisted in won't vanish because Lendl is no longer there. The step up that everyone wondered if he could make has been accomplished.

I think Andy will miss an authority figure in his box though.

Maybe he'll poach Becker from Novak. 

No way will it be Sampras. It's almost certain the Djokovic would have asked Sampras (there were 5 names on the list that weren't Becker and Sampras is Novak's childhood hero). If he turned Novak down, I can't imagine why he'd then say yes to Andy.

That's not good news for Murray. It looks like Lendl just had other things to do, and perhaps it's a good time for him to go; there are more routes to looking bad from this than looking good if he stays. Timing of leaving is everything, just ask Slur Whiskeyface.

Maybe he'll poach Becker from Novak.

I bloody hope not!

In a way Lendl's and Andy's relationship has opened up the door for ex pro's to become more involved in tennis today with Becker, Edberg, Chang and Ivanisevic all enjoying a second pop at the tour.

I would like to see Agassi maybe come on board. For one he could help Andy with his ballstriking and maybe invoke some confidence in it.

Again like other ex pro's it is subject to availability and Andre has his foundation and family which I think rules him out.

Maybe Annacone or Cahill are worth pursuing again.

Make Magnus Norman an offer he can't refuse.

HM Murdoch wrote:Make Magnus Norman an offer he can't refuse.

No. Navratilova.

[quote="legendkillarV2"]

Maybe he'll poach Becker from Novak.

Should be the other way around, Djoko to pinch Lendl.

Nobody needs Becker.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:Make Magnus Norman an offer he can't refuse.

No. Navratilova.

Kim?   

lags72 wrote:Wow, that really is quite a surprise.

I guess it was a pretty heavy commitment for Lendl time-wise, and reading between the lines of the announcement it would seem that he finds it too restricting in relation to other stuff going on in his life ; so perhaps the split was driven much more by Lendl than Andy.

I too get the feeling it was more Lendl wanting more freedom. I don't think the split will make a great difference to Murray's results. I think the key thing Lendl was brought in for was the mental aspect of the game and the adoption of a more attacking gameplan. Murray now knows his best approach (or at least a successful approach) and he knows that he can win on the biggest stage. With the confidence that comes from his success over the last two years and that mental resilience instilled by Lendl, I think Murray is at a point whereby he has already gained what he wanted and needs for the future

A big surprise this and all reports I have read (even non-British ones) put it down to Lendl wanting more time to himself. It has been a great partnership and perhaps now is ideal for a change. Andy needs new ideas and input and new incite so hopefully he can get that from a new coach. Thanks Ivan you are a star.

Now that he has split, I am wondering if he actually needs another ex player style coach. He now has broken the slam duck and gone from a 'Slamless Wonder' to a 'One Slam Wonder' to a 'Multi Slam wonder' (remember these :-) ) so I actually think he now needs a technical coach who can fix / upgrade specific areas of his game

I don't want to sidetrack this thread but, on a day when one former-pro is in the personal position to resign at his own convenience, I begin to see why another former pro may be rather keen on having a lucrative coaching role.

https://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/spanish-news/item/119296-boris-becker-s-spanish-villa-confiscated

Yikes, this is a bit sudden. It's good to see that they've parted on very positive terms, at least according to the reports. We'll have to see where Andy will go from here.

Of course, this would explain lydian's absence...he's being lined up!

I would agree with that Riskysports.

The confusing thing for me is that as recent as the off season Lendl has said he'd be happy to coach Murray for the rest of Murray's career.

Now before the clay season has started they've split! It really doesn't add up, even taking into account that Ivan has started playing on the oldies tour. I wonder if there's been a fall out.

Andy really is at a crossroads now. I really don't know whether we're looking at a 4 or 5 + slam winner or someone who never reaches anywhere near the heights of 12/13 again.

Sounds like a similar situation in the coach moving to terminate like in the case of Vajda. Lendl obviously doesn't need the money and being a top coach travelling all over the world and sacrificing your life for the success of another is tough. Especially, for someone like Lendl who isn't a lifelong coach.

Since Lendl was hired, Murray has won 83 per cent of his matches when Lendl was present and only 69 per cent when he was not.

Some stat that...

That's a bit of a meh stat. Lendl turns up at the big events. Murray turns up at the big events. The two aren't necessarily related.

I would say with a degree of certainty that they parted on good terms as they continue to speak of each other in glowing terms.

For me a plausible explanation for the timing of the split is this. Andy is toiling at the moment and that much is clear to see and is probably in search of advice and coaching but Ivan but this is one of the times when he is unavailable. It probably has caused him to see he'd be better suited by a full-time coach who he can call on anytime and so the pair have agreed it is best for both parties if they go their separate ways.

bogbrush wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:Make Magnus Norman an offer he can't refuse.

No. Navratilova.

Kim?   

No. Sharapova would be better, she is really struggling dating Dimitrov.  



Like many felt I guess the timing is right [may not be the exact month but I expected to happen this year may be after Wimbledon], Murray achieved so much under Lendl's guidance and now he can stand and count himself, may be thats the thing Ivan wants as well, more like a Rocky Balboa III .  

I loved the pair Andy and Ivan, so it was said to see them split but it has to happen eventually and finally it did.   

I am loving the new Federer-Edberg pair , something to relish meanwhile, for some reason I like many didn't like Boris-Nole pair, may be Nole should have hired Agassi, that would have been awesome.

I can't see much that's positive about this split. I don't think Andy ever wanted Lendl full-time so I can't see a full-time coach suiting him now. But who is there that's suitable and available? I'm sad to see them split.

I think the timing of the split is horrendous too. I can only see the next few months - defending Miami points; Davis Cup; clay season; defending Queens and Wimbly - fraught with speculation about issues both on and off the court with the media adding its usual brand of hype and frenzy.

Not good for the blood pressure, but one thing is for sure - there's never a dull moment where Andy's concerned.

Tennisfan wrote:

Not good for the blood pressure, but one thing is for sure - there's never a dull moment where Andy's concerned.

I am not sure about that.   

Tennisfan wrote:I can't see much that's positive about this split. I don't think Andy ever wanted Lendl full-time so I can't see a full-time coach suiting him now. But who is there that's suitable and available? I'm sad to see them split.

I think the timing of the split is horrendous too. I can only see the next few months - defending Miami points; Davis Cup; clay season; defending Queens and Wimbly - fraught with speculation about issues both on and off the court with the media adding its usual brand of hype and frenzy.

Not good for the blood pressure, but one thing is for sure - there's never a dull moment where Andy's concerned.

Andy Murray was chiefly drawn to Ivan Lendl for the similar experiences they had in their first few slam finals. Ivan like Andy lost his first few slam finals but turned it around to become a multiple slam winner. Andy wanted to tap into how Ivan turned it around and it worked as we all now know. Now Andy is struggling for form he needs a coach by his side now but Ivan is unavailable so perhaps he now feels he needs full-time coach for times such as these. Besides I am sure another coach could aid Andy in other ways as well.

Quite surprised to hear this.  It strikes me as a good move for Lendl and a more difficult one to judge from Andy's perspective - it could work out fine but it could also be a disaster.

Well if it means he goes from a part-time coach to a full-time coach that has to be a good thing from Andy's perspective does it not? The Lendl/Murray partnership came together as Murray strived to win a slam and he has now won two (including Wimbledon) thanks to Ivan's incite on turning a losing streak around. That piece of incite is therefore now redundant so what can Ivan add that another coach can't? Nothing much really and a new coach will spot things that Andy needs picking up on such as poor second serve and getting him more aggressive in rallies.

I am not so fearful of the timing of it as such. The partnership had become stale as Lendl more or less completed his objective which was to help Andy win Slams. However, with Lendl being away when Andy plays Master events the same events that Andy wanted to start performing better at meant that in real terms Andy wasn't making any further progress in thos areas. I remember an interview Andy did after winning Wimbledon when he was quoted saying he wanted to win more Masters events.

For me Andy's tennis has gone backwards I think his Miami success last year was an example of how physical tennis had become and also how ineffective Andy's shot making had become. For me Andy needs someone who is technically sound and had experience winning at the top too. To get someone that has had both is more likely than me crapping in the queens handbag. If I had to choose I would want someone more technical to help with the FH and the serve.

Andy has the experience of winning Slams and Master events and he needs to put the good work Lendl brought with him to good use.

 Very interesting times as I think we can see from the varied (but good and fair) comments.

In some ways, I'm not certain that Lendl who was always more or a mental coach is what Andy needed anyway. But on the other hand if anyone knows how to get back to a peak after a mini-trough he does

I do think though that and I think LK aludes to this, what Andy needs is some technical advise. Some of his variety has got lost in the last couple of years (and I was saying this after his Wimby win) and he needs to get it back

Why on earth was the best volleyer in the game, 'out netted' by Raonic for instance?

Why is the serve so rank? It can't be the back, otherwise he'd be struggling physically elsewhere

A coach who can solve those two problems will be a god send

The ironic thing is BB that Andy modelled his serve on Sampras's and it is nowhere near it!

His serving has been rank for years. Post Gilbert I would say. Andy gets up to what about 130mph on first serve on a good day and then rolls in serves at 77mph or 73mph. Never forget the day he clocked 69mph! As Petchey said "his second serve won't get many speeding tickets"

He nets far too many first serves so for me if he is still having that problem post back surgery then for me something is wrong on the ball toss.

He has a lovely FH when he uses it at full force. He does it on the clay sometimes. I wish he done it more instead playing powderpuff passive crap!

I just hope whoever he brings in can contribute some technical aspects to his game.

I say credit to Murray for not pretending this is any kind of useful development. He knows Lendl will be more or less impossible to replace. Question now is whether he's grown up enough in the head to be able to take the stabilisers off.

Heard Daley Thompson on the radio the other day saying that Murray needs now to consider what he wants. He has won Wimbledon which has to have been his lifetime goal. So what now ? Is he satisfied with that ? Does he want to push on and give himself the best chance of more slams or even Number 1 ranking ? or to make as much money as he can by committing to things like the Asian team event being held in November/December (not a favourite of mine).

The fact that the split seems to have been because Murray wanted more of Lendl's time seems to indicate that he still has the desire. Hopefully he can sort things out, regain his confidence and be back challenging at the sharp end of tournaments in the near future.

To me it is clear.

The Murray/Lendl partnership came about for one chief reason. Andy had lost four slam finals on the bounce and wanted to turn that around so who better to turn to but Ivan Lendl who suffered the same experience but went on to become a multiple slam winner. Andy needed his advice on the mental side of things and clearly it worked as Murray is now a dual slam winner. Winning slams should now not be such a mental issue now so a coach to work on elements of his game that needs it would be more beneficial. If Andy wants a full-time coach then great and lets be honest here Andy is not going to have any problem attracting the best coaches in the business.

I'd say that's an excellent summary CC.

I do still have a hunch that the actual timing of the split was prompted more by Lendl than by Andy, but there's every chance it would have happened at some fairly imminent point anyway.

Andy's next move will be interesting, and I doubt that another former top pro (certainly not of Lendl's stellar reputation) will be his preferred option. None of them seem to stay with a player for more than two or three years at most, and perhaps he will use this 'opportunity' to build a more low-key - but more durable - relationship.

Well lags evidently it has been brewing for some time. Andy says a meeting had been arranged for Miami weeks ago to discuss future plans. My hunch is that Andy knew Ivan was only ever going to be a part-time coach and just now Ivan is busy on other projects. Now though Andy's game and head is in a bit of a mess and he probably feels he needs help now but that isn't possible and this has probably brought about the split. No animosity - just that Andy needs someone he can turn to any time at times like these and Ivan is not the man any longer.

And I'm not bothered who instigated it. Fact is, I was thinking last week what technically does Lendl bring, i.e. he now needs a coach who can tweak some of his technical flaws

Interesting article in The Times, for those who can get it;

For those who are registered, here you are

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article4039825.ece

Heard an interview with Andy yesterday. Didn't sound like he had any real plan in place yet but said he planned to sort it out after the Davis Cup, when he will have 4 weeks off. Obviously, he isn't planning on playing Monte Carlo.

I'd be very surprised if he missed Monte Carlo - one of the most prestigious Masters Events on tour.

It's not a mandatory. Given his comment I would be 90% certain he will miss it. Possibly that will change if he dives out early in Miami.

CaledonianCraig wrote:I'd be very surprised if he missed Monte Carlo - one of the most prestigious Masters Events on tour.

Born Slippy wrote:It's not a mandatory.

I wasn't aware that MC was considered particularly prestigious? I think it's the only non-mandatory, as BS says.

Let's hope that the four week break after the Davis Cup gives him time to sort everything out. Very difficult to manage a regular schedule as a pro tennis player, let alone when you're headhunting a new coach in the process.

To me, the "Lendl was helpful because he also struggled to win his first slam" angle is overplayed.

The way I see it, Lendl was good for Andy because:

1. He is very focused and can provide discipline, and
2. Andy respected him and listened to him

As good as Andy is, I think he has a bit of immature streak to him and needs someone to help him keep focused. I think there are good many coaches that can provide that focus, but I am not sure how many of them Andy will be willing to listen to.

I think BB put it well:

bogbrush wrote:Question now is whether he's grown up enough in the head to be able to take the stabilisers off.

Yeah, MC is not considered so prestigious. Fed is skipping it too these days. It is a shame because it is my favorite clay court Masters 1000 event.