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Murray eager to tap into Lendl's tactical mind

Andy Murray will begin working with Ivan Lendl immediately © Getty Images

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Andy Murray believes Ivan Lendl can help him with his mental approach in his bid to win his first grand slam title.

The British No. 1 confirmed the appointment of eight-time major winner on Saturday, claiming Lendl could offer "fresh insight" and help him work out how to beat the top players on the big stage.

While Murray has lost three previous grand slam finals, Lendl lost four major finals before finally scooping his maiden slam at the 1984 French Open.

"He has been through a lot of the same things that I have been through, so I am sure he can help me mentally with certain things," Murray said.

"I spoke to him about a lot of the top players and how I am going to beat those players, and how to see their weakness; how I can exploit them. So I am sure he will help me very tactically as well."

Meanwhile, Lendl's former mentor Tony Roche believes his former charge is greatly misunderstood and despite his lack of experience will make a successful coach.

"I've got to say it's a really good move from Andy, an especially good move," Roche said. "Anyone who knows Ivan will tell you how much he's going to bring to the table for Andy. Few people in our sport have ever trained as hard as Ivan or been as professional.

"All the things his career was based on, like working hard and being meticulous with preparation and execution and that ability he had to concentrate on what was in front of him for hours on end, will rub off on Andy. Ivan was always looking for the edge, even in the smallest ways, and now he'll be doing it on Andy's behalf. Whether it was the way he trained, tinkering with his equipment, getting his diet right.

"I mean, Ivan and Martina Navratilova were the two players in the 1980s who took the game to another level in terms of professionalism. He's always been one of the great students of the game so I'm pretty sure Andy has struck a bit of gold here.

"I've got no doubt Ivan will be a superb and successful coach. Being the student of the game that he is, being such a switched-on and motivated guy, the way he worked on his game as a player, the way he prepared himself, all of that knowledge and experience is in Andy's corner now. That's not to say Andy hasn't been working his backside off already and putting in the hard yards but I think Ivan is going to add another dimension."

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