Murray Looks To Rekindle Wimbledon Magic With Lendl

When Andy Murray lifted the trophy at Wimbledon in 2013, ending the 77-year British title drought, Ivan Lendl was his coach. Lendl had a significant impact as an integral part of Murray’s team, and the Scot is looking to rekindle the magic in their second run together.

The relationship is already paying off, having clinched a record fifth title at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club a week ago. Murray hopes to carry his strong run of form to the All England Club.

“Obviously we’re working together because I feel like he can help me,” said Murray. “He wants to do the job. I think the last weeks have gone extremely well. The time I spent with him beforehand was very good. I don’t feel any added pressure working with him again. I think it gives me a bit of extra confidence, because I know the last time we worked together it was very successful. I trust in what he says.

“This last week’s been very good. I enjoyed having him back as part of the team. He’s very clear in what he thinks and where my game needs to go if I want to keep improving and winning the major events again.”

For the seventh time in his career at the tour-level, and the first at Wimbledon, Murray will square off against a fellow Brit. The 29-year-old, who defeated countrymen Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund last week at Queen’s Club, is slated to battle wild card Liam Broady in the first round. He admits it will be a strange encounter.

“It will be interesting,” Murray added. “It has never happened before here for me. So it will be interesting. I know Liam fairly well. We practised a bit earlier this year, around February and March, after the Aussie Open.

“He’s a good guy and works hard. I would imagine we’d probably play on one of the big courts. It’s a big experience for him. I look forward to it.”

With nine Brits in the main draw (first time since 2006), Murray also commented on the successful run through qualifying by Marcus Willis. At No. 775 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, the 25 year old is making his tour-level main draw debut.

“It was great for him to qualify. I remember, it was a couple of years ago, he was trying to get some funding together because he wanted to try to play a full year on the tour. I remember retweeting something he was doing to try and raise money online to keep playing because he wasn’t getting any funding anymore.

“It’s just a really cool story. He pretty much stopped playing, then was coaching. To then go to pre-qualifying at the last minute, get through the pre-qualifying and then to the qualifying. There are no guarantees he wins his first match, but with the potential to play Roger, it would be an amazing story.”

Murray will face Broady on Tuesday, with a potential Round of 16 clash against Nick Kyrgios looming large. Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga potentially await in the quarter-finals.