‘Andy Murray-Amelie Mauresmo? It’s a perfect match’

Abu Dhabi: Judy Murray believes her son Andy’s controversial partnership with coach Amelie Mauresmo is working well due to their good rapport and the canny Frenchwoman’s excellent understanding of the game.

Murray also hailed world number five Agnieszka Radwanska’s recent decision to hire 18-time grand slam champion Martina Navratilova as her mentor.

Her son parted ways with Ivan Lendl, who helped him win two major titles and the London 2012 Olympics men’s singles gold medal in two-and-a-half bountiful years, last March.

The world number six subsequently raised eyebrows when he appointed two-time major champion Mauresmo to replace Lendl, given that top men’s players are rarely coached by members of the opposite sex.

But his mother defended the move, despite it having failed to yield significant success for Murray thus far in terms of major titles, telling Gulf News: “I think whenever when you are looking for a coach, you need to know what you are looking for from that coach. There are many coaches out there with strengths in different areas. Maybe some are better suited to tactical stuff or the mental side or the physical side.

“I think you also need to have a personality fit, as you need to spend an awful lot of time with that person. It’s got nothing to do with gender; it’s all about the skills you bring. They’ve done about six or seven weeks together in the off-season and seem to have a very good rapport. She listens well and understands the game well.

“She was a very skilful person and read the game very well, and I think there a lot of similarities between the way she played with the way Andy plays. I think it’s so far, so good.”

Murray also believes Radwanska has performed a masterstroke in persuading Navritalova, one of the greatest women’s players of all time, to assist her.

Murray said: “She’s obviously got such enormous experience and was a very versatile player. I think it will be a good match with Radwanska because she has good hands and a great feel for the game, and I am sure that Martina can identify a lot with some of the things that Aga does well.

“From what I have been reading online and on Twitter, she’s been helping a lot by encouraging her to come forward more. But they have only been together for a short space of time and sometimes you need to wait a few months to see the effect that someone can have. It’s not instant.”