• Home
• /
• Tennis

Murray needs proven coach to win slam

LONDON - Beaten Australian Open finalist Andy Murray needs a proven coach in his corner if he wants to break his grand slam duck, according to former world number four Greg Rusedski.

Rusedski, the last British player to reach a grand slam final before the 23-year-old Scot, said he could do a lot worse than get on the phone to no-nonsense Australian Tony Roche as he mulls over his thrashing by Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

“That’s three grand slam finals and he hasn’t won a set yet,” Rusedski told Reuters by telephone.

“Yes, he’s lost twice to Roger Federer and now to Djokovic so it’s no disgrace but he’s got to do things better out there and maybe it’s time for a few changes.

“I think someone like Tony Roche would be a great thing for Murray. He is a great guy and was a great player himself.

“He coached Ivan Lendl who was number one, he coached Pat Rafter who was number one, he coached Lleyton Hewitt who was number one and he coached Roger Federer, so that’s not a bad record is it?

“Murray cannot expect to win a grand slam final being a counter-puncher. He has to take the bull by the horns and Roche is an aggressive sort of coach who knows all about coming forward and serve and volley.

“He’s a no-nonsense sort of guy who has that experience and I think that would be beneficial for Murray having someone with him who’s been there and done it.”

Murray ditched his full-time coach Miles Maclagan last year and now works part-time with Spaniard Alex Corretja and uses best friend Dani Vallverdu as a hitting partner while his mother Judy also has a big input.

Next Hurdle

However, Rusedski doubts whether the current set-up can get Murray over the next hurdle.

“Maybe he needs someone a bit stronger,” added Rusedski, the runner-up at the 1997 U.S. Open to Rafter.

“His mum Judy does the video analysis and she does a good job in those things but then he’s got Corretja as his coach who didn’t show up (at the Australian Open).

“For me it’s about having someone to get you in the right frame of mind because last year was very similar for Murray. He needs to change his mentality. He needs someone in his corner who can tell him how to handle a grand slam final.

“We are talking about the final hurdle, the guy is a great player but we are talking about that half percent and that’s all that is missing. It’s very small margins.”

Rusedski, who also threw the name of Swede Magnus Norman, currently working with world number four Robin Soderling, into the frame, said Murray would continue to challenge for majors but it would not get any easier.

“It becomes harder every time you miss out,” he said. “This time it was not even Federer in the final, it was Djokovic who is a week younger than him and someone he’s grown up with.

“Djokovic has stepped it up. Don’t forget, he had just won the Davis Cup for his country which is probably the most pressure packed tennis you can ever play.

“Murray is the best British player of the Open era. You don’t win six Masters Series and reach three grand slam finals without being a great player but you need that little bit that’s going to make the difference. He doesn’t want to look back at his career and think I could have, I should have, I would have.”