After his Wimbledon cancellation Andy Murray made his fans (and colleagues?) a great offer.
Despite the positive signs in Queen’s and Eastbourne, Murray put reason above passion: Wimbledon came too early for him, especially possible five-set matches – the sad news on late Sunday afternoon.
How disappointed the two-time Wimbledon champ himself will have been about his retreat, one might imagine. Nevertheless, Murray quickly returned as a joker. To an instagram post thanking him for the many messages and referring to the overall picture of his decision, he added: “If anyone needs a coach in the coming weeks – ring through for a moment!
And of course there was “ringing”, among others by Murray colleagues. “As you know, my coach sleeps all the time!!! We need help!!!!! Warm-up at 10.30, Court 5, are you coming?”, asked Sloane Stephens. “If you don’t have anything better to do for the next two weeks and feel like it – hit me,” posted Sascha Zverev. And Murray’s coach Jamie Delgado said, “I need someone for the invitational tournament in week two.”
The comment by double specialist Robert Lindstedt is also funny: “What’s your number? I pay badly, but I need help.” Answer Murray: “Some people simply cannot be helped.”
Will Murray really show up in Wimbledon as a short-term coach? It’s unlikely. On Sunday he had announced that he would immediately start training on the hard court in order to be fit for the US summer tour.