In less than three weeks Andy Murray will begin the defence of his Wimbledon crown. While he might be concentrating on Roland Garros right now, Wimbledon is at the back of his mind, and he is likely to go into the Championships with his new coach in tow.
“It's not something I have thought much about in the last ten, twelve months,” he said. “I haven't thought loads about it. Well, twelve months ago I hadn't won Wimbledon; last ten months or so.
“But I'm sure as the time gets nearer, and you get ready to play the first match on Monday, I'll definitely be excited about it. I will be nervous. It was an experience, something I have never experienced before.
“Players have talked about it in the past, that it's a great experience. But it can also be a nerve racking one on you. Yeah, I will look forward to it, I'm sure.”
So who is it? Who will be beside him when Wimbledon begins? Besides the current team like his trainer, this physio, his girlfriend, his manager and his mum, who will be the new addition? We said we would reveal it here on wearetennis.bnpparibas and we are about to.
Names like Mauresmo, McEnroe, Cahill, Brett, Wilander, Navratilova, Bjorkman have all been raised. He has made it clear they are all very good people. Some he knows, others he is not so familiar with on a personal basis.
But the person to be his new coach is certainly not one of the usual suspects. He is passionate about tennis and has been keeping a keen eye on Murray for quite some time. There is no acting this part and he has been regarded as quite the negotiator. He is also extremely au fait and astute with the political side of things. This person works on both sides of the Atlantic and has places in London and the US.
So, we are going to break this bit of confidential information and go beyond the sea to reveal who will guide Andy Murray. This is not a marginal call and certainly as his new coach, he has made it clear to Andy that through the tennis season there will be times as if its midnight in the garden of good and evil.
The two of them get on very well. Andy can understand what his new coach says because he can speak with him in a Scottish accent, and that helps so much. They certainly mesh in the humour stakes and there is incredible mutual respect.
The media, mainly the British media, have been chomping at the bit to know who the new “guru” will be. Murray has been quizzed in a dozen different directions as to who it will be but having spoken to a few people, granted not Andy directly, we reveal that it is this man…
