It does not seem like there is anyone in the tennis world who does not believe that Andy Murray reuniting with Ivan Lendl was a brilliant idea. And who could argue with it? In just one tournament back together, Murray claimed a historic victory at the Queen’s Club. It seems like this is the new beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Certainly Tim Henman thinks so. The former British number one, as reported by the Daily Mail, has said that he only expects good things to come from the renewed Murray-Lendl partnership.
Always Improving
Murray experienced the best results of his career under Lendl’s guidance during their first stint together. And while the Scot has continued to improve his all-around game since they parted, he has not quite had the same results. Henman expressed his belief that this was a big reason why they’ve reunited, saying, “Ivan Lendl and Andy had a lot of success in their first relationship as player-coach, winning two Grand Slams and Olympic gold. They had a break and Andy was keen to get Ivan back involved for those big matches at the end of big tournaments.”
According to Henman, Lendl is not back to teach Murray new tricks. It’s all about enforcing good habits. “It's not going to be about Ivan trying to teach Andy how to hit new shots, it's about him ingraining the good habits on the practice court and keep improving in the areas he has.”
Goals Moving Forward
Henman pointed out that the situation Lendl is entering is extremely different from the last time they joined forces and Murray is a very different player this time around. “Hopefully it can pay off further down the line, but Andy has most definitely developed as a player since Lendl was last coaching him. The reality is that in the professional game if you're not getting better, you're going to be left behind because the standard is improving all the time.”
Looking ahead, Henman expressed his optimism for the current British number one, saying “As is evident in the last six weeks of the clay court season, Andy's playing better than I think he's ever played before. He's fit and healthy, grass is a good surface for him and he's had a lot of success both at Queens and at Wimbledon and hopefully he can have more success this year.”
Murray will undoubtedly enter Wimbledon as one of the favourites next week.