London: Following a fruitful two-year relationship, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has parted ways with coach Ivan Lendl the man who turned him from a four-time Grand Slam runner-up into a two-time major champion.
Murray and Lendl announced their decision on the British player’s blog on Wednesday, a few days after Murray lost in the fourth round at Indian Wells.
“I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far,” said Murray, who returned from back surgery this season.
With Lendl, Murray won Olympic gold in London in 2012 and the US Open title later the same year. In 2013, he became the first British man to triumph at Wimbledon in 77 years.
Before winning the U.S. Open, Murray was 0-4 in Grand Slam finals. Only one other man in the Open era, which began in 1968, lost his first four major titles matches: Lendl. The Czech-born baseline player then went on to win eight Grand Slam singles titles during a 17-year career, spending 270 weeks at No. 1 in the world rankings.
Lendl first got involved with Murray in December 2011. Despite a lack of coaching experience, Lendl immediately struck a chord with his protege as Murray made it to the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Roger Federer in four sets.
Murray’s breakthrough came a month later when he beat Federer in the Olympic final. He then defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the US Open final to win his first Grand Slam title.
Murray will defend his Miami title before leading Britain in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup next month against Italy.
