Andy Murray praises ‘fantastic’ impact of coach Amélie Mauresmo
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Version 0 of 1. Dani Vallverdu, as astute as he is unobtrusive, could be the difference between his former employer, Andy Murray, and his new boss, Tomas Berdych, in Thursday’s intriguing semi-final of the Australian Open. Murray wishes it were not so, as do Vallverdu and Berdych – but circumstance and history have collided. As for Amélie Mauresmo, whose arrival as Murray’s main coach last summer to replace Ivan Lendl changed the tone and direction of his career, she is staying well out of it. Speaking for the first time about seeming contradictions between his version of why he split with Vallverdu two months ago and that offered recently by the Venezuelan – who denied there were any differences of opinion – Murray was keen to set the record straight. “When everyone is pulling in the same direction, then things are going to improve. I feel like I made some big improvements to my game and physically in the off-season, and I think that has showed so far in this event. I enjoy working with Amélie. I think she’s fantastic. She gets on very well with my team too. She has a good personality to coach and also a lot of experience as well so I’m happy with the way it’s working. “I think a lot of things go into that but, when all of your team members are comfortable and happy, when everyone’s getting on and there’s good dialogue and communication, then you’re going to be able to make improvements. “Obviously things off the court as well have been good and positive for me. I’ve got some things to look forward too there later in the year [with his marriage to Kim Sears]. When you’re content with things and happy in the people you’re surrounding yourself with and are in a good place, then that’s a positive.” He admitted holding a good vibe in a small team can be difficult. “It’s not an easy thing to do, but everyone has to contribute towards that, it’s not just up to the player to do that, the whole team is responsible for communicating properly and getting things done correctly. The tennis player’s job is really to show up and give 100% in training sessions on and off the court, to communicate with the team how you’re feeling and things you feel like you want to work on. “Then, after that, it’s really up to the team to put a plan in place and come up with the goods in that respect, to prepare you as best as you can be prepared for these sort of events. It’s certainly not only down to the player. “You want to know that everything’s taken care of. If one person in a group of four or five isn’t doing part of their job properly then the whole team weakens because of that. So, yeah, you need everyone to be pulling their own weight really. When that’s the case good things happen.” Was this not the case before? He paused and replied: “I don’t know exactly. Everyone might have different opinions on that but clearly the way things ended last year at the O2 [when he folded calamitously in his final match against Roger Federer] wasn’t the best way to end the year. Maybe there were some reasons for that. For me, I think things right now are much, much smoother and calmer and everyone’s a lot less stressed out than was the case at the end of last year.” Greg Rusedski, whose analysis on Eurosport is invariably insightful, thinks Vallverdu’s input will be crucial. “It will be one of the most important things because Murray plays on patterns,” the former world No4 said. “On his forehand in his forehand corner he goes cross-court almost all the time, in his backhand corner with his forehand it’s always inside out. His second serves are predominantly on the backhand side and the serve is short. “So, for all of those little key areas, Dani will tell Berdych: ‘Be prepared for this at this stage, this is what’s going to happen here.’ When you’ve been a friend of Andy and coached him for so long, you’re going to know those sorts of areas.” Another factor will be the wind, as it was during Murray’s win over Nick Kyrgios. The Scot’s artful manipulation of the elements comes from experience – most famously at the 2012 US Open when he out-thought Berdych in the semi-finals and went on to beat Novak Djokovic in the final. Thursday night’s forecast is for 18mph winds when the match starts, levelling off a little later in the evening – so Murray has maybe a two-hour window in which to torment Berdych the way he did at Flushing Meadows three years ago, as the 30mph tail of a tornado swept up the eastern seaboard. Berdych, bamboozled by the breeze that night, said later: “That was a really, really tough one. It affects me a lot because I have a higher toss. When I’m not able to go for the first serve, not making some points straight from the serve, then, you know, that’s not my game.” His all-court game suffered too. Many of his 62 unforced errors were ground strokes from deep that sailed wide or long on the breeze. Murray said the conditions were “probably the toughest I’ve played in” – the wind was so strong it blew his bag on to the court at one point – but he coped. As did Sir Sean Connery – just – when he invaded the press conference that night, well lubricated, and declared: “Scotland invented the world. Today we invented the wind!” Rusedski agrees the elements will play a part. “If it’s windy and blustery that favours Murray because he has a little bit more margin but if the conditions are calm it will suit Berdych as he can make a hole through anybody. This will be a major test for Murray. “Berdych is an excellent player, he’s someone who could hit through Murray and what I’ve noticed this year is that he’s improved his game immensely under Vallverdu. He’s put a little more rotation on his forehand, he’s more patient from the back of the court and tactically he’s become more astute. “Dani is adding a little more tactical dimension and also adding more margins into his game and with the power he has, he’s very, very, dangerous. “We’re going to see both players hungry and we’re going to see an explosive match that will possibly go five sets.” |