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Roger Federer today said Andy Murray will bounce back from his US Open defeat as former coach Mark Petchey added his voice to those calling for the British No1 to fundamentally change his grand slam practice schedule after the fourth- round loss to Marin Cilic.
Federer, who beat Murray in last year's final, overcame Robin Soderling last night to earn a semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic and then said: “It's just not easy to win slams and even though I have a lot of victories, I played many times before when I didn't win. It's a tough road and you have to finish the deal and it's a hard thing to do.
“It's a pity because Andy had a great summer and leading into the US Open he was one of the favourites. I think he has the game to do much better and he must move on from it.”
Petchey took Murray to world No44 before the Scot linked up with Brad Gilbert and then chose the current Team Murray group, headed by Miles Maclagan. Now, thanks to his loss, Murray will drop down to No3 in the world and Petchey is adamant the change his former charge needs to make will help him become Britain's first men's slam winner since Fred Perry in 1936.
Petchey said: “Having worked with Andy, I don't believe he needs to practice as much during a tournament having done all that work at his training camp in Miami at the end of the year.
“Everyone wants him to win a slam now but this was only his 15th in his career and Roger Federer didn't win one until his 17th attempt and so he is still fairly new in many ways.”
Former great John McEnroe has also urged Murray to cut back his time on the practice court and Djokovic revealed he is going to play golf in the build-up to his Federer semi-final.
But the Murray team are unimpressed by McEnroe's views and point to the fact that their man has risen to a career high No2 ranking, won five ATP titles this year and came into the US Open as the hottest player in the men's game on hard courts.
Murray is already thinking about next season and admitted: “I will have to see if I take a break or start focusing on the next tournaments because I don't want to burn myself out before the start of next season.”
The Scot has proved he is ready to can make significant changes to his schedule and learn lessons. Before the Australian Open in January next year, he will avoid the Doha tournament and head straight Down Under from Florida to ensure he quickly gets used to the heat in Melbourne.
John Lloyd, Britain's Davis Cup captain, dismisses the suggestion that Murray's fitness and coaching team have let their man down.
He said: “Andy is one of the fittest players in the sport and his guys do an excellent job getting him into that shape. Those guys aren't idiots and nor is Andy and if he believed the work was making him feel flat he would say something right away. They aren't slave drivers out to punish him.”
* US Open coverage is brought to you in conjunction with financial services company AEGON, which is backing British Tennis at all levels
