The recent re-hiring of former Czech great Ivan Lendl marks the 11th coaching change of Andy Murray’s tennis career.
Though hardly a record of its kind on the cut-throat slam circuit, this latest click of the coaching prayer-wheel may indicate the Scot knows time is running out.
It may also show he is mature enough to eat humble pie, since he is on record as recently as the French Open as saying he didn’t foresee another coaching change, before going on to lose the final to Novak Djokovic.
Murray had not long before split from his last coach Amelie Mauresmo, who cited his “complex character” as a significant reason for the separation.
It is tempting to see Murray as the junior member of a four pronged decade-long hegemony of world tennis rankings, since his two slam wins have come only in recent years.
Tempting, therefore, to see him coming increasingly to the fore as those illustrious peers fade.
Yet, at 29, he is the same age as Novak Djokovic (12 slam wins) and only one year the junior of Rafael Nadal (14), and four years younger than Federer (17).
His critics reference a fragile tournament temperament, since he is often seen cussing at his supporters’ box after losing a point. There were reports that one of the conditions of Lendl’s previous incumbency was that if Murray abused him, it was the end of the relationship. At one point, Lendl ordered him not to even look up at the box during a match.
Perhaps this is the sort of firm direction required for a heart-on-the-sleeve personality like Murray, since his only major wins occurred under Lendl. They include the 2012 US Open, the 2013 Wimbledon, and the London Olympics gold medal.
It cannot have escaped Murray that Lendl’s own record of eight grand slams vastly dwarfs his own, and perhaps it is only this undeniable status difference that can demand the Scot’s deference. If so, it is an unfortunate chink in his emotional repertoire.
Despite being so often bracketed with his three great contemporaries, the fact remains that Murray has achieved little more than the Swiss, Stan Warwinka, a late bloomer who has won an Australian and French Open, yet whose talents are not eulogised nearly so much.
None of this is to say the Scot risks being seen as a failure, any more than one could attach any sense of failure to Federer being unable to win another slam.
It is a fact that many already consider Murray a hero for breaking a long drought of British slam winners. Taking the gold at his home Olympics and then leading his countrymen to a Davis Cup win cemented that garland.
That he was cursed to have for contemporaries three of the four most prolific slam winners in the history of the game has added a degree of lustre to his triumphs.
Despite a serious back injury requiring surgery several years ago, Murray now seems closer to peak form than Nadal and Federer. Whatever Lendl can offer him, either via playing adjustments or emotional stability, the coming Wimbledon tournament will be a massive opportunity to further his legacy.
Likewise, the in-form Djokovic will be desperate to send his career slam tally into the teens, joining only Federer, Pete Sampras and Nadal as the only professional era players to do so.
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