Andy Murray wants new Coach to help win Grand Slams, old coach dropped
Andy Murray has split from his long time coach Miles Maclagan after being together for almost two and a half years. Their relationship seemed to be going very well but the problem came from Murray’s lack of success at winning Grand Slams. The final breaking point probably came when Murray lost the semi final of Wimbledon this year to Nadal. Murray is a great tennis player and is Britain’s number one ranked player. But he still somehow manages to lose to the other greats out there, namely Federer and Nadal. It looks like Murray will be looking for a coach that can give him that something extra that is currently missing from his game and propel him to the top spot.
Andy Murray started playing tennis at the age of three in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. He steadily improved his game until he started to make a name for himself in 2005. In that year he made the biggest jump in the top 100 rankings of any player by moving up to number 65 from being 514 the previous year. He made his ATP debut in 2005 as well and started to shine by winning a lot of matches. In 2006, he finished in the top 20 for the first time in his career at number 17 and won an ATP title that year. 2007 was an injury filled year for the Scot although he made it to the top ten for the first time in his career that year. 2008 and 2009 were his best years and he started to win championships everywhere he played. Even though he is currently number 4 in the world rankings, those big Grand Slams still elude him.
The fact that he is still at number 4 in the world and lacks big Grand Slam wins might be the reason why he let go of his coach. Miles Maclagan had been working very well with the young tennis player and Murray was seriously improving his game but it seems Andy now wants someone who can energise his game even more and push him to the top where he believes he ought to be. Maclagan had taken over the job from Murray’s previous coach Brad Gilbert at the end of 2007. The split was very amicable with both coach and player saying what a pleasure it had been working with the other one. But it seems that all was not well in the Murray camp.
It seems the entrance of a coaching consultant named Alex Corretja, who was hired during Murray’s 2008 season, played a big part in the departure of Maclagan. Maclagan had flown out to America to be at Murray’s side before the start of next month’s US Open but when he got there Corretja was already present and it all seemed to go sour. Maclagan and Corretja both wanted the coaching situation cleared up as to who was running the show and it seems Maclagan lost out on that one. But interestingly Corretja also flew home along with Maclagan and Murray was left without a coach right before the US Open. It might be that Murray did not want to take part in a coach deciding exercise and sent both men home so he could pick a new coach in peace. The oddest part about this whole thing is that it took place right before a major tournament. It may have been more practical for it to have happened after the US Open.
Murray seemed to have lost direction recently and was trying to regain his form. At this crucial stage in his career while he was trying to prepare himself for the uphill battle of becoming the best in the world, it seems his coach did not step up and push him hard enough. A new coach might bring a new direction and help take Murray to that coveted number one position in the world he so desperately craves. A new coach might also be able to energise the Scot’s game and bring a new element to it that previous coaches had not been able to do. It could be just the fresh pair of eyes that help to push Murray to become the world’s best tennis player.
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