ATP: Andy Murray: No substitute for Ivan Lendl

Andy Murray will not hire a replacement for Ivan Lendl in the foreseeable future. Jamie Delgado, a long-time member of Murray’s team, said that Britain’s number one will not look for a new coach.

“I think we need to see him (Murray, Note) fully fit and ready for the next season,”Delgado told Sky Sports.”If we can do that, he’ll return to a successful game.”

Murray announced last Friday that he had ended his relationship with Ivan Lendl. Under the Czech, Murray won three Grand Slam tournaments and two Olympic gold medals. In addition, Murray became the number one in the world ranking list for the first time under Lendl.

“It was an extremely successful collaboration, not only for the second time, but also during the first term of office,”added Delgado,”It is time to plan for the coming year, so this decision has now been made. Ivan was only there for a few weeks, and I did most of the work (on tour) on my own. That’s why not much will change.”

Whether or not Lendl will receive requests from other players is open,”I’m sure there are many players who would like to work with Ivan,”Delgado is sure.

The decision not to hire a new coach for the time being has met with much approval. Ex-player Tim Henman welcomes the decision:”With all the experience and knowledge Andy has, I don’t think he needs someone new in his team. He also has Jamie (Delgado, Note) who has already done a good job with Gilles Muller and has been getting along very well with Andy for the past two years.”

Murray injured his hip last summer in Wimbledon, so he had to end his season early. Since then, the Scotsman has slipped to 16th place in the world rankings. Murray plans to return to the Brisbane tournament in January.