Andy Murray, who has been awarded a wild card into the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells - set to begin next week, will be joining forces for a third time in his professional career with Ivan Lendl.
Together, player and coach achieved the Scot’s three Grand Slam titles and two Olympic gold medals, topping the ATP Rankings in 2016.
Lendl, 61, is a former World No. 1 recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all times, having won 94 ATP singles titles, including eight majors, across a successful career that concluded with his retirement from professional tennis in 1994 at the age of 34 years old.
Born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, he became a U.S. citizen in 1992, establishing residence in Florida.
As revealed by his management team, Murray will join Lendl in the U.S. once the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami comes to an end, early in April, opening a new chapter in their collaboration as the training process begins, aiming to prepare the player for the grass-court season.
Last February, ahead of the Rotterdam Open, the Brit confirmed he would skip the clay-court season (April-June), focussing on preparing for Wimbledon, held in the European summer, a Grand Slam he won in 2013 and 2016.
“Right now, I am not planning on playing through the clay,” he said. “The past couple of years, the clay has made issues worse; last year I had some issues at the beginning of the year, the clay didn’t help, so I’ve spoken to my team about that and this year while I feel good and healthy, I don’t want to take that risk.”
The World No. 84 will be starting his road to Wimbledon, competing in Stuttgart, at the Mercedes Cup (Weissenhof) - the ATP 250 tournament runs from June 4-12.
IN SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT COACH
By the end of 2021, Murray and five-and-a-half year coach Jamie Delgado split; the latter began to work with Canadian Denis Shapovalov early this season.
Then, the three-time Grand Slam champion started off a trial period with German Jan De Witt, beginning the 2022 season in Australia.
At the Sydney Tennis Classic warm-up event, the 46-time ATP titlist reached his first tour-level final in 27 months, losing the championship match to Top seed Aslan Karatsev.
The 34-year-old set off his Australian Open campaign, continuing his run of form, playing a memorable five-setter first-round match against Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Nevertheless, he fell in the second round against Japanese player Daniel Taro 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, the lowest-ranked player, to beat Murray at a major.
Clearly disappointed with his performance, he stated in a press conference: “I’m really, really disappointed. Very frustrated. And, yeah, tough loss for me. That’s for sure.”
Previously, he had experienced a trial period with coach Esteban Carril in Stockholm 2021, albeit none of those partnerships succeeded in order to join Murray’s team in the role of his permanent coach, which now Lendl embodies once again.
However, the Glasgow native could appoint an additional coach to travel by his side on Tour, working with Lendl.
MURRAY INJURIES
The man who has earned 14 ATP Masters 1000 titles underwent multiple hip operations (2017, 2019), which threatened his professional career and subjected him to challenging rehabilitation processes.
Upon his comeback, he experienced setbacks putting to the test his determination against the odds, but his relentless spirit, work ethic, and passion for the sport have spoken louder.
The two-time gold medallist has gone strength from strength at his own time, on his own terms to do what no other player with his kind of injury has done before, returning to tour-level singles competition, and occasionally, doubles.
Adapting his game to his physical condition has proven crucial in the progress that has led to seeing a healthy player on court beating Top 10 players.
On February 7th, another milestone was reached, as he broke into the Top 100 in Rotterdam for the first time since 2018.
LENDL SAGA
Murray teamed up with Lendl in 2011, a successful partnership that first broke apart in 2014.
In 2016, they reunited, collecting a second Wimbledon trophy to finish the year as the top-ranked tennis player in the world.
A year later, in November 2017, they went separate ways; Murray had undergone his first hip surgery, preventing him from taking part in most calendar events.
Now, they have agreed to return to working together for the third time, seeking to reach new goals.
Wimbledon will run from June 27th to July 10th in London.