Old pro Ivan still an inspiration for Murray

Andy Murray is back in his comfort zone with the Wimbledon start just hours away as the Scot puts final touches on his game under the eye of former coach Ivan Lendl.

The Czech hard man from the 1980s has been putting Murray under the cosh as the Scot prepares for the home event he has won twice.

Murray has been recovering from the abdominal problem which stopped him cold a fortnight ago in the Stuttgart grass final against 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.

Now the three-time Grand Slam winner says he is as ready as he’ll ever be for his start against Australian James Duckworth.

“Obviously having Ivan on my team helps,” the 35-year-old said. “We’ve had a lot of success in the past. We know each other well. 

“He still believes in me. There’s not loads of coaches, you know, people out there that have done over this last period, and he has. That definitely helps me.”

Murray, who believes he is over the worst of his problems of the past half-decade caused by his two hip surgeries,says Lendl still has plenty to teach him about thriving during the latter part of a career.

“He obviously played into his 30s as well. As he got older, reduced the amount of training he was doing. We spoke about that a little bit.”

Murray also got in a training block with the 62-year-old in Florida during the spring.

“We obviously did quite a long training block in Orlando after Miami. We spent like four or five weeks there,” Murray said,

“But it was obviously less (time) than what we did in the past, which is just common sense.”

Main photo:- Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl in locker room after winning Wimbledon in 2013 – by AELTC