London: Andy Murray doesn’t need to hire a new coach following his latest split with Ivan Lendl, according to former British No. 1 Tim Henman.
Murray announced he was parting company with Lendl again on Friday after two spells together which yielded three Grand Slam titles and two Olympic singles golds.
But Henman, a close friend of Murray’s, believes Jamie Delgado is more than capable of filling in, having served as a long-term member of the Scot’s coaching team.
“With Andy’s experience and knowledge of the game, I wouldn’t think he needs to bring another person into the team,” Henman told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek on Sunday.
“He’s got Jamie who played to a decent level and did a very good coaching job with Gilles Muller first, and has been with Andy for a good couple of years and understands him as well as anyone.”
Henman paid tribute to the role Lendl played in boosting Murray’s career, which has been on hold since the former world number one’s Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Sam Querrey due to a hip injury.
Murray’s enforced period of inactivity has seen him drop to 16th in the world rankings, but he remains focused on returning at the Australian Open in January.
“It’s been well documented that Andy has been having a tough time with his hip but he had a great couple of periods with Lendl and I think it’s more about focusing on the positives and the things the whole team has learnt,” Henman said.
“Having seen him train and practice at Wimbledon quite a lot, he is working unbelievably hard and making big strides.
“I think that with still six or seven weeks before the season starts, I’m quite confident that he is going to be back ready and raring to go.”
In the O2 Arena on Saturday, Grigor Dimitrov stood one win away from the biggest title of his career on Saturday after ending his Jack Sock jinx to reach the final of the season-ending ATP Finals at the 02 Arena.
The Bulgarian, finally beginning to look the real deal after year’s weighed down by comparisons to Swiss great Roger Federer, produced more dazzling tennis to win 4-6 6-0 6-3 and set up a showdown with fellow debutant David Goffin.
“I don’t know what to say. This took a lot out of me,” Dimitrov, the first debutant to reach the semi-finals after going unbeaten in round robin play since Andy Murray in 2008, said on court. “But my belief was good today.” Asked how he had controlled his nerves when serving for the match, Dimitrov said: “You have to. I was very composed and didn’t let negative thoughts come to my head.”
