Andy Murray has split with his long-time coach Ivan Lendl after a bad-tempered end to his 2023 tour season.
Murray, who won all three of his grand slam titles with Lendl in his corner, brought the former Czech player back into his coaching set-up in March last year as he attempted to recapture his best form in this post-hip surgery part of his career.
However, the 63-year-old was rarely seen outside of grand slams with other members of the coaching staff bearing the brunt of the travel, which Lendl is known to be keen on avoiding.
“Ivan has been by my side at the biggest moments in my career and I can’t thank him enough for all that he’s helped me achieve,” said Murray.
“He’s a unique character, who understands what it takes to win and I’ve learnt an awful lot over the years from him.”
Lendl himself said: “I will look back with some great memories of the time Andy and I worked together. He’s as hard a worker as there is and the sport is better because of him. I wish him only the best in the years to come.”
i understands Murray may spend some more time over the off-season working on technical elements with Louis Cayer, the LTA’s senior performance advisor, but his travelling coaching team is expected to remain largely the same.
The 36-year-old will continue to work with Mark Hilton, Dan Evans’s former coach, and doubles specialist Jonny O’Mara, whom he hired ahead of the grass-court season earlier this year.
Lendl first started working with Murray at the end of 2011, at which point he had reached three grand slam finals but never won one. It was reminiscent of Lendl’s own career, in which he lost his first four grand slam finals but ended up with eight major titles.
A man of few words, what he did say seemed to make the difference. Within eight months of working together Murray was Olympic champion and a month later had the US Open title too. The next season he finally cracked the Wimbledon hoodoo, becoming the first British man in 77 years to win at SW19.
They split in 2014 but got back together in 2016, a reconciliation that heralded another Wimbledon title and another Olympic gold medal, although typically Lendl was not present in the flesh in Rio de Janeiro.
Their third spell together has been nowhere near as successful: winning the Challenger title in Nottingham can probably be regarded as the peak, which pales in significance compared to previous triumphs.
Lendl’s departure this time, understood to be at Murray’s instigation, is a recognition that time is running out. He ended his tour season in Paris with yet another defeat to Alex de Minaur, having been 5-2 up in the deciding set. He destroyed a racket in frustration on the court, and reportedly another once he reached the locker room.
He will head to Malaga in two weeks for the Davis Cup Finals and a meeting with Serbia, before a much-needed off-season with Cayer and the rest of his regular crew. It might end up being his last.
