Andy Murray confident of defending Miami Masters title after Lendl split
Andy Murray remained confident of defending his ATP Miami Masters title despite his surprise split from coach Ivan Lendl.
The pair split after two successful years together on the eve of the biggest tournament in Florida.
“It was mutual,” insisted Andy.
“We sat down Saturday evening, we went and had dinner, chatted for an hour about other stuff and then we chatted about us moving forward.
“That had been planned for a few weeks. We planned to sit down when I got to Miami to discuss moving forward.”
The world No 6 will open the defence of his Miami crown on Friday against Australia’s Matthew Ebden.
Murray, 26, said the decision to part company came quickly once it became apparent there would be no furthering of the coach-pupil relationship.
“It wasn’t going to happen. The best thing to do was just to move on,” he added.
“Ivan wanted to do other things and the time required to I think make a difference is more than when he could offer right now.
“It’s a tough one for me because he has been a big part of my life. He has been a big part of my team. He made a huge difference to my tennis.
“Ivan’s a very hard person to replace. You don’t replace that sort of experience easily.”
Lendl, a 54-year-old former world No 1 who captured eight slam titles, guided Murray to US Open and Wiimbledon triumphs plus the London Olympic gold medal in their 24 months together.
