It is not always the case that great players translate into successful coaches, but Lendl who won eight Grand Slam as a player, is certainly in that group.

But with Murray now retired and set to coach Novak Djokovic, the 64-year-old continued his journey elsewhere, as Lendl joined the team of Hubert Hurkacz.

What has Andy Murray said about being coached by Ivan Lendl?

Ivan Lendl coached Andy Murray during his career in three separate stints, from 2011 to 2014, 2016 to 2017, and 2022 to 2023.

During that period Murray enjoyed the majority of his success, which included three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals and year-end World number one finish in 2016.

Lendl helped take Murray’s game to the next level and instill the belief and confidence in him to beat the best players and win the biggest titles. Back in July 2013 on the day he won his first Wimbledon title, Murray explained exactly what Lendl helped him to achieve while he was his coach.

“He’s made me learn more from the losses that I’ve had than maybe I did in the past,” Murray said. “I think he’s always been very honest with me. He’s always told me exactly what he thought. And in tennis, it’s not always that easy to do in a player/coach relationship.

“The player is sometimes the one in charge. I think sometimes coaches are not always that comfortable doing that. But he’s been extremely honest with me. If I work hard, he’s happy. If I don’t, he’s disappointed, and he’ll tell me.

“And when I’ve lost matches, last year after the [Wimbledon] final he told me he was proud of the way I played because I went for it when I had chances.

“It was the first time I played a match in a Grand Slam final like that. He’s got my mentality slightly different going into those sort of matches.”

What was Andy Murray’s record with Ivan Lendl and Hubert Hurkacz’s record in 2024?

Murray had a respectable record on the ATP Tour before being coached by Lendl.

In the seven seasons before working with Lendl, Murray won 323 matches while losing just 107, but he had yet to win a major and had lost multiple finals, three to Roger Federer and one against Novak Djokovic.

But once Lendl arrived on the scene Murray’s level improved as he won 56 matches in 2011, up from the 46 he won in 2010, the year before he hired Lendl.

Murray won a total of 268 matches from 2011 to 2014 and then 2016 to 2017, the most successful periods of his career.

Lendl will now coach Hubert Hurkacz, who played 59 matches in 2024, and won 40 of them. The Polish number one claimed the Esotril title this season which is his first championship victory on clay. 

Hurkacz did suffer some injury issues towards the end of the season, having played just three matches since the conclusion of the US Open. He will now look to return to full fitness and hit the ground running with coach Lendl now by his side in the offseason.

Related Posts