Great start for Gilbert and Murray, but it went from Brad to worse

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For Brad Gilbert, there is no sound sweeter than his own voice, and as an outstanding tennis coach he has generally lived by the creed that it is his way or the highway.

Author of the seminal coaching manual Winning Ugly, his methods are drawn from the experience of having made the very best of his relatively modest playing ability to reach the top five.

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Honeymoon: Gilbert and Murray at the 2006 U.S. Open

They certainly worked with Andre Agassi, on whom he used his vast knowledge to oversee a rise from 141 to No 1 in the world.

But no two top players are the same and when Gilbert was brought in at jaw-dropping expense to convert the enormous potential of Andy Murray into a champion it was always going to be a combustible relationship.

Murray is blessed with bags of talent and plenty of attitude to match, so something had to give. For many observers, it is a surprise the arrangement lasted as long as 16 months.

When they teamed up just after Wimbledon 2006, with Murray ranked 36, there was the inevitable honeymoon period. The improvement was swift, with the scalp of Roger Federer claimed a mere six weeks after The Championships.

But tensions began to rise between two headstrong individuals who soon established that theirs would be an entirely professional relationship.

Murray's limited fondness for hard work, never his strongest suit, would frustrate Gilbert and so would his tendency to do things his own way on court.

Gilbert's unease was compounded by having to sit at courtside and soak up the notorious verbal tirades aimed at him by his charge in the heat of the battle, although an LTA-funded salary of £750,000 was decent compensation.

But possibly the biggest source of irritation was the number of followers Murray likes to have around — and whom Gilbert would sit apart from at tournaments.

The young Scot is never happier than when among those close to him, such as girlfriend Kim Sears, brother Jamie and Carlos Meier, a friend from his days of training in Spain who frequently travels with him on tour.

There have also been appearances by a sports psychologist and childhood coach Leon Smith. But most notably there has been the presence of Murray's mother Judy.

A brilliant coach in her own right who has come up with more active title-winning players in her own family than the combined efforts of the Lawn Tennis Association put together, she still very much directs the traffic.

Nobody knows the parts of her son's expansive game, or his complex psyche, better than she does. Since Murray came back from injury she has been present at the bigger events, such as the U.S. Open, the Davis Cup and the Madrid and Paris Masters.

Even as far back as this year's Wimbledon, when Murray aborted his attempt to play following the wrist injury that further exacerbated matters, there were reports of severe tension in the camp.

Since then, Murray has had to fend off enquiries about the state of his relationship with Gilbert and has unfailingly played down suggestions of aggravation.

But communication between the pair has been tailing off completely and the fact that Murray did not bother to thank Gilbert even cursorily for his input in yesterday's statement shows how bad relations had become.

The situation now turns the spotlight on what the LTA do with Gilbert, who has been their full-time employee on loan to Murray.

If the deal is restructured on a part-time basis, it will bring more focus on the organisation's habit of employing foreign coaches whose total commitment to solving Britain's problems is in question.

Gilbert has never had a home in Britain and has stayed in the lodgings at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton when working in London.

Only last week another American, Paul Annacone, was re-hired to give "75 per cent" of his time to the LTA as head men's coach.

Can the British game afford yet another part-timer?

 

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