Andy Murray (left) hired former women’s world number one Amelie Mauresmo as coach shortly before the grass-court season.
World number nine Andy Murray has declared that his partnership with coach Amelie Mauresmo is a “long-term” arrangement, despite a disappointing experience at Wimbledon.
Murray hired the former women’s world number one shortly before the grass-court season, but his defence of the Wimbledon title he won in 2013 ended in the quarter-finals.
The Scot, however, says that he has enjoyed working with the Frenchwoman and is eager to pursue their collaboration.
“We’ve agreed to work together and I think from both sides we’re willing to do what it takes to make it work long-term,” Murray told BBC Sport ahead of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. “I really enjoy working with her, she’s helped me a lot. She integrated well with the rest of the team. It’s been a good start. Now it’s about me producing the results.”
Murray is returning to action in Toronto this week for the first time since surrendering his Wimbledon crown. He recently shifted his training base to Miami to prepare for the US hardcourt season, which concludes later this month with the US Open at Flushing Meadows.
The next few months are critical for Murray who dropped down to 10th in the world rankings following his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
The Scot is without a title for more than a year and is also struggling to qualify for the year-ending World Tour Finals in London with the likes of Dimitrov and Canada’s Milos Raonic beginning to make deep inroads into the top 10.
On the plus side, he has few points defend during the north American swing, having lost in the last 16 at Toronto in 2013 and the quarter-finals at Cincinnati and the US Open before his season was curtailed by back surgery.
Mauresmo’s task will be to help Murray return to the kind of form that saw him win the US Open in 2012, when he beat Novak Djokovic in an epic final.
“I sat down with her the day after Wimbledon, we made a plan for the next few months, in the build-up to the US Open,” Murray said. “(Hitting partner) Dani (Vallverdu) and Amelie will both be there at the US Open. That’s the plan for now, but I plan on working with her for longer than post-US Open, for sure.”
Murray could face a tricky start in Toronto with Australian upstart Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon conqueror, a likely second-round opponent.