Tennis News : Murray 'strikes gold' with Lendl

Lendl lost his first four Grand Slam finals before winning eight major titles

Andy Murray has "struck gold" in appointing new coach Ivan Lendl, according to the eight-time major winner's former mentor Tony Roche.

Murray announced former world number one Lendl as his new full-time coach on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Scot starts 2012 with a first-round match against Mikhail Kukushkin at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.

"I've got to say it's a really good move from Andy," said Roche.

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Lendl, despite no previous experience of coaching on the tour, brings enormous credibility and huge experience of playing at the very top level

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"Anyone who knows Ivan will tell you how much he's going to bring to the table for Andy. Few people in our sport have ever trained as hard as Ivan or been as professional."

Australian Roche, who won the French Open as a player in 1966, spent eight years with Lendl.

"Ivan and Martina Navratilova were the two players in the 1980s who took the game to another level in terms of professionalism," added Roche, who has also coached three other world number ones in Pat Rafter, Roger Federer and current charge Lleyton Hewitt.

"He's always been one of the great students of the game so I'm pretty sure Andy has struck a bit of gold here.

"All the things his career was based on, like working hard and being meticulous with preparation and execution and that ability he had to concentrate on what was in front of him for hours on end, will rub off on Andy."

IVAN LENDL FACTFILE

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• Born March 1960 in Ostrava, Czech Republic


• Won first professional title in 1980 in Houston


• Reached 19 Grand Slam finals, winning eight


• Won US Open three years in a row from 1985-87


• Won £13.7m in prize money, ranking eighth in all-time men's earners

Lendl lost his first four grand slam finals before going on to win eight major singles titles and hold the world number one ranking for 270 weeks.

Roche believes Lendl's return to the spotlight after keeping a low profile since his retirement in 1994 is great news for tennis.

"Ivan is back in tennis and that is fantastic for our sport," Roche said.

"Being the student of the game that he is, being such a switched-on and motivated guy, the way he worked on his game as a player, the way he prepared himself, all of that knowledge and experience is in Andy's corner now.

"That's not to say Andy hasn't been working his backside off already and putting in the hard yards, but I think Ivan is going to add another dimension."

Murray has suffered the frustration of losing all three of the major finals he has contested in an era dominated by what many regard as three of the greatest players of all time: Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

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