The making of coach Murray: Those who know Sir Andy greatest disclose to MATTHEW LAMBERT the distinctive type and tactical methods that can make Murray the proper trainer – and why even Novak Djokovic has so much to study from him

You all know the stereotype of the footballer who is destined to become a manager. Always questioning the boss’s decisions, hatching tactical plans of their own and running the game on the pitch.

So, as Andy Murray this morning takes his seat courtside for Novak Djokovic’s first-round match at the Australian Open, is it the same in tennis?

Was Murray always a coach in waiting and how will his life as a player influence his second career?

Mail Sport spoke to two of the Scot’s former coaches, one from the start and one from the end of his career.

Mark Petchey was Murray’s first professional coach in 2005, overseeing his Wimbledon debut and first tour-level final. Jamie Delgado joined the team as assistant coach in Murray’s annus mirabilis of 2016, when he reached world No 1. Delgado took the top job in 2017, guiding Murray through hip surgery and a return to the tour.

‘A lot of players take what their coaches tell them as gospel and just accept it. Andy was not like that,’ says Delgado, who is here in Melbourne as the coach of No10 seed Grigor Dimitrov. ‘He always wanted to know the “why” behind things.

‘Some players come to sessions or practice weeks, show up and do what the coach says. We would have to tell Andy in advance, explain what we wanted to work on and why. If I felt he had to work on his forehand or hit the ball harder, for example, I’d have to give him video evidence and stats to explain it.’

It is one thing to be so rigorous as a Grand Slam champion in his late 20s but Petchey reveals the 18-year-old Murray was no different.

‘He would want to understand the reasons for things,’ says Petchey, now a pundit and commentator. ‘He would do his own research, whether that’s a racket change, a string change, a tactical or a technical thing.’

Murray would also challenge his coaches after and – notoriously – during matches. As an example, a former member of his team recently shared the following anecdote: going into a match the team told Murray his opponent had a strong preference for the wide serve on break points. Murray earned his first break point of the match and, boom, straight down the tee went the serve and straight up went the Murray arms as he complained to his box. 

Delgado recognises that dynamic. ‘Andy will find that as a coach,’ he says. ‘When you’re talking about tendencies it is never 100 per cent and, yeah, there’ll be frustration when it doesn’t work but I like to think most of the time we got it right!’

The Wimbledon champion was certainly a demanding employer but both Delgado and Petchey insist they would not have it any other way; that working with Murray made them better versions of themselves.

‘Is it an easier ride if you didn’t have a player like that? Maybe, but at the highest level you want to be pushed,’ says the 47-year-old. ‘It challenged me, it made me double, triple check that the sessions we’re doing are specific to what he needs. It helped me in my coaching career.’

Petchey agrees. ‘It is a healthy relationship with a player,’ he says. ‘It’s a collaboration at the end of the day, a partnership. I was a much better coach by the time I left Andy than when I went in.’

If Murray was practised at picking apart the arguments of his coaches then he was even more adept at breaking down his opponents on court. That tactical mastery, which seems to have been largely innate, should translate well to coaching.

‘He was very involved in the tactics of the game,’ says Delgado. ‘He naturally had a good eye for that from a young age. Even when he was practising with a player he would always, from the strategy side of things, take a couple of things from the practices.

‘That’s a coach’s talent, those are coach’s qualities that you need – especially with someone like Novak, who’s a great player already but little things can make a big difference. If he suggests to Novak a little tactical thing, it might only win him three extra points in the match but at this level that’s huge.’

The day before we speak, Delgado had gone for lunch with Murray and he reports: ‘He seemed to be enjoying it, he said practices have been going well, some long days.

‘I was asking about Nishesh Basavareddy (Djokovic’s first-round opponent) and he said he had practiced with him a couple of years ago and got a feel for him. But he will have been watching plenty of videos too.’

So was it always clear to them that Murray would eventually take the short walk from court to coaching box? ‘Yeah,’ says Delgado immediately. ‘Whether he wanted to do it or not was another thing but could he make a great coach? Of course.’

Petchey says: ‘I always thought he would coach. He loves tennis too much. It’s an addiction to those sort of players. He’s got to fill the void, right? He’s filling it with golf, and he’s pursuing that to perfection, but I always felt he would come back to tennis.

‘I thought it would be 18 to 24 months but getting the opportunity to work with Novak is a once in a lifetime opportunity and he’s grabbed it.’

Murray admits he has found it demanding switching roles just four months after retirement, and Delgado can relate. 

He actually had an overlap as player/coach before mentoring his then-doubles partner Gilles Muller full-time and he agrees the shift is challenging.

‘I think the biggest thing is that feeling that you’re there for someone else,’ says Delgado.

‘Andy all his career had his team there for him, everything is geared around him. What time does he eat, practise, what time we’re flying, everything is what’s best for him.

‘Now that completely changes, everything is now what’s best for Novak and that’s quite a big shift mentally.

‘I think that’s the biggest challenge. In terms of the actual tennis – I think he’s got that covered.’