Even before Andy Murray hired Ivan Lendl to be his coach, Murray was already hearing from Lendl what it would take to beat Roger Federer in a Grand Slam tournament.
The conversation took place in Miami in December, and it was the first extended meeting between Lendl, who won eight Grand Slam singles trophies, and Murray, who is still searching for his first major title.
Lendl talked about many tennis subjects, according to Darren Cahill, who was there. But Lendl focused much of his energy on explaining his views on the three men blocking Murray’s path to the greatest prizes: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer.
“Ivan was inspiring to listen to,” said Cahill, who was coaching Murray part time then as part of an arrangement with one of Murray’s sponsors. “I was thinking that the fact that Ivan hadn’t coached before was completely irrelevant because he was still very much in touch with the way the game is played.”
Lendl, who retired in 1992, should be in even better touch after more than six months as part of Murray’s team.
“Obviously, it’s different from the time I have played,” Lendl said earlier this year. “But it’s not any different from what I’ve been watching. I’ve seen all the major finals and semis and so on. The only thing I stepped up was watching more of Andy’s matches and some of them even multiple times.”
Lendl, who declined interviews last week, was hired in late December because of his perspective, because of his champion’s résumé and also because of the parallels. Lendl, like Murray, lost his first four Grand Slam singles finals, breaking through at the 1984 French Open when John McEnroe surrendered a two-set lead.
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