Lendl Experience A Source Of Inspiration For Murray

Tennis ace Andy Murray this week confirmed the appointment of 51 year-old Czech Ivan Lendl, an 8 time grand slam winner and all-round legend of the game as his new full-time coach.  After a couple of weeks of negotiations, Lendl becomes the first full-time coach for Murray since the dismissal of Miles Maclagan in July 2010.

What's interesting about about the appointment is how similar Murray's playing career is at this stage compared to Lendl's at the same time almost 30 years ago.

Before Lendl won his first grand slam tournament, the 1984 French Open after an amazing comeback from 2 sets down against John McEnroe, he had been at the wrong end of the result on four previous occasions in grand slam finals.

By the time that first win came Lendl was 24 years old, the same age that Murray is now.  Once the duck had been broken, Lendl then went on to win a further 7 grand slams.

Andy Murray - looking for his first grand slam in 2012

Ivan Lendl was one of the most consistent players in tennis history with a career spanning 16 years, and during a time when he competed with some of the greats of the game - McEnroe, Becker, Edberg amongst others.

This is all reflective of the situation Murray finds himself in.  The Scotsman is one quarter of the 'big four' with Nadal, Djokovic and Federer, and finds himself in that esteemed group despite not having a grand slam win.  That is down to the fact he is so consistent and has come up short on so many occasions in the big tournaments but has regularly beaten the other three in relatively lesser competitions.

It's the common held belief that it's only a matter of time before Murray wins a grand slam.  I buy into that theory, but it will take the advice and encouragement of someone who has been there and done it on his side to help him through, which makes Lendl an excellent addition to his team going forward into 2012.