After spending a few hours on court together last week in Florida, rumours have been swirling about the potential of Ivan Lendl, the man who turned Andy Murray into a Grand Slam champion, becoming Grigor Dimitrov’s new coach. After his third round defeat at Wimbledon, Dimitrov parted ways with his coach of two years Roger Rasheed.
Dimitrov, 24 and currently ranked sixteenth in the world, is now in the market for a coach to help him return to the form that saw him ranked eighth in the world, reach the Wimbledon semifinals and be considered a future Grand Slam contender. Ivan Lendl could be that man.
The reasons for Lendl
Why Lendl? Why Not! Lendl has only coached one professional in his career and that was only for two years. But they were a great two years. And it’s not just the successes of his charge that give him credibility, but it’s the transformation his player went through and the hurdles Lendl helped him overcame.
When Lendl became Andy Murray’s coach in December 2011, there were few players facing as much pressure, adversity, and disappointment as Murray. Murray had been a member of the “Big Four” since 2008, but his status as a member of the club had always been debated. While Murray had contended with, been ranked alongside and occasionally beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for several years, at the end of the 2011 season, he was still yet to win a Grand Slam title.
In fact, he had yet to win a set in a Grand Slam final. Murray was unquestionably one of the best players in the world, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t win the big matches. Lendl helped him overcome his demons. Within seven months of Lendl’s tutelage, he won his first set in a slam final, winning the opening set of the Wimbledon final (which he would lose in four sets to Roger Federer) and followed that up with an Olympic gold medal, defeating Federer in straight sets on the same court Federer had stopped him weeks earlier.
A month later, Murray finally slayed the dragon: he won the US Open. Less than a year later, he claimed an even bigger victory by ending Great Britain’s 77-year drought at Wimbledon, defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the elusive title. Whatever had been holding Murray back before Lendl took over had been eradicated by the former world number one and eight-time slam champion, now master coach.
The difference between Murray and Dimitrov
Were Lendl to take over coaching Dimitrov, he would not be in a dissimilar situation to the one he was in with Andy Murray. When Lendl started coaching Murray, he inherited an experienced player with already strong game. There was no development necessary. Physical at least. Lendl didn’t have to tinker with Murray’s style or make many changes to his game. It was all about mentality.
That’s the heart of the problem with Dimitrov. Dimitrov is currently not as good or as successful as Murray was when Lendl took over coaching Murray. But Dimitrov is still an extremely talented tennis player. He’s got powerful groundstrokes, a huge serve, great movement, amazing touch and pretty much every shot in the book. Dimitrov has a very complete game. It may not be as effective as Murray, but it’s strong nonetheless. Certainly good enough to win a slam.
What’s holding him back is mental problems. The tennis world has seen what he’s capable of when he plays his best. When he’s on form, he can go toe-to-toe with, even occasionally beat the best players in the world, including the Big Four. If he wants to do that consistently, he needs to get his head in the game.
That’s why Ivan Lendl would be the perfect fit for Dimitrov. Most of Dimitrov’s struggles this year have been mental. His frustrations on court have been visible. But what’s been truly symbolic of his struggles this year are his inability to back up big wins. The prime example was the Monte Carlo Masters. In the third round, he defeated Stan Wawrinka, who would go on to win the French Open two months later, in straight sets with loss of a mere three games. And it wasn’t as if Wawrinka played poorly in that match. Dimitrov was stepping up and blasting everything in sight. He blew Wawrinka off the court. It seemed as though he was in for a hot run.
He proceeded to lose in the next round to lower-ranked Gael Monfils, only managing to win four games. It’s been the story of Dimitrov’s season. He played great in his first two matches at Wimbledon, only to crash out in straight sets to Richard Gasquet. It’s as if he can’t mentally handle too many consecutive matches. If he wants to win a slam, he needs to start being able to play and win multiple big matches in a row.
When Dimitrov is playing at the level he’s expected to and capable of, it’s clear to everyone that he has the ability to be a future champion. When he’s losing, the problems are also clear. It’s also clear that these problems are more mental rather than issues with his game. When Dimitrov is losing to players ranked below him, he’s not finding himself being out-hit or being pushed around the court. He’s continuing to try attack his opponents, only most of his shots are missing their targets.
Most of Dimitrov’s losses can be summed up in one word: errors. Large numbers of unforced errors tend to be a symptom of mental struggles. With the exception of classic big hitters like Milos Raonic, one of Dimitrov’s fellow young guns, large numbers of unforced errors don’t come naturally to players, especially players in the top twenty. At the level Dimitrov has reached, it’s expected for him to be able to put the ball in the court consistently. But in those big matches that he’s losing, he’s not able to do that. Shots he normally makes are missing. That’s not an issue with his game, it’s an issue with his brain.
How Lendl can transform Dimitrov
And that’s where Lendl comes in. Lendl as a coach has never had to tinker excessively with someone’s game. Murray came with the skills necessary to win a slam. The beauty of Dimitrov is that he also has most of the skills necessary. He just needs to learn how to use them and how to keep his head in check when the pressure is at its highest. Lendl may be the best coach on the market in that regard.
Working with Dimitrov may actually be easier for Lendl than Murray was. Firstly, Dimitrov is slightly younger than Murray was when he took over, so it may be easier for Lendl to get into the Bulgarian’s head because he may be more impressionable and less entrenched in his habits. Secondly, he has not been as successful overall as Murray was. By the time Lendl took over coaching Murray, the Scot had reached three Grand Slam finals, been ranked number two in the world and won multiple Masters 1000 titles. He was already a great player, so Lendl was faced with the difficult task of trying to take one of the best players in the world and make him better when there wasn’t very much room for improvement.
Dimitrov has had nowhere near the success Murray had had and so there is still lots more for him to accomplish which would make it easier for Lendl to help him improve. Thirdly, while there is lots of pressure on Dimitrov, there is nowhere near the same amount of pressure faced by Andy Murray. Part of that was a result of Murray’s early success and higher expectations from a younger age (Murray reached his first slam final at 21, Dimitrov’s first semi-inal came at 23).
Andy Murray was in the spotlight and expected to win slams far earlier than Dimitrov. The pressure Dimitrov is facing now at 24 is probably still less than Murray faced at 22. Dimitrov also has the distinct advantage of being from a country that doesn’t put as much pressure on their athletes as Great Britain does. Murray had to carry the lofty expectations of Britain and dealt with the pressure of breaking the nation’s Wimbledon drought. Not to mention the simple fact of being the British number one puts a huge amount of pressure on the player holding that title.
Outside of Bulgaria, does anyone care about the Bulgarian number one? Probably not. Is there the same pressure on Dimitrov to win Bucharest as there was on Murray to win Wimbledon, the Queen’s Club or the ATP World Tour Finals? Nowhere close. If Lendl can help Andy Murray overcome all those problems to become a Grand Slam champion, there is no reason (obvious to an outside observer) why he can’t do the same thing for Grigor Dimitrov.
If Lendl can pass on the same teachings he gave Andy Murray to Grigor Dimitrov, Dimitrov could very easily transform into a Grand Slam champion. Lendl needs to teach Dimitrov the mental strength that he possessed as player himself and that he passed on to Andy Murray. If he succeeded, Dimitrov would be in great shape for the future. In 2014, there were flashes all over the place of what he is capable of. But it appears as though he is cracking under the pressure.
The main reason why Ivan Lendl was the perfect choice for Andy Murray as a coach was because Lendl understood what Murray had been going through. He’d reached the upper echelon of the game and reached multiple slam finals but couldn’t get over the finish line.
Despite reaching the number one ranking in 1983, Lendl lost his first four Grand Slam finals, one of two players to do that (the other being Murray) and faced overwhelming pressure to get over the finish line. It was the same for Murray and it’s currently the same, although perhaps on a lesser scale, for Dimitrov. The expectations are there. The talent is there. The mental strength or that missing element required to be a slam champion is not. Lendl can bring that to Dimitrov.
Lendl would be the perfect man to coach Grigor Dimitrov if Dimitrov is serious about becoming a Grand Slam champion. Some coaches are perfect fits for certain players. There are lots of great coaches currently available, but being a great coach isn’t enough. The right man for Rafael Nadal may not be the right person for Dimitrov and vice-versa because their situations are completely different.
Dimitrov finds himself in a not dissimilar situation to that of Andy Murray three years ago. The main difference being the amount of pressure put on him by the media at home. Lendl should be able to do what he did for Murray for Dimitrov. The young Bulgarian has one of the best, natural games out there. His style of play could allow him to dominate the tour, winning on all surfaces. His game is very complete and ready to roll. He just needs that mental boost that Lendl can provide. If Dimitrov can calm down, keep his head together in the big matches and play to the best of his ability consistently, he should be in for a long and successful career. Ivan Lendl has done it before. It would be great if he could do it again.