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Lendl defends Murray's coaching schedule

Andy Murray has been working with new coach Ivan Lendl in Miami © PA Photos

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Ivan Lendl has revealed he will not be working with Andy Murray the week before French Open, instead opting to work on the Scot's clay court game five weeks earlier in Monte Carlo.

Lendl, who started working with Murray at the beginning of the season, first linked up with the world No. 4 at the Brisbane International less than a fortnight before the Australian Open, where Murray reached the semi-finals.

However, the eight-time grand slam champion has revealed he intends to take a longer-term approach with Murray ahead of Roland Garros in May - and will begin working with the British No. 1 at the Monte Carlo Masters in April.

"I'll be at the grand slams, obviously, but for me it's more important to see him play on certain surfaces in plenty of time before the big events so that we can work on things," Lendl said.

"If I worked with him in Rome on clay, that's only one week before the French and we're not going to be able to do anything. If I go with him to Monte Carlo then we have five weeks to work on stuff. If I see there is something that needs work or needs improving then we have time. It might be a little different to the usual system but that's never stopped me before."

Murray makes his first appearance since his semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships next week. The Scot, who has drawn a qualifier in the first round, is in good spirits ahead of the ATP 500 tournament, where he has never made it past the quarter-finals.

"I've prepared well," Murray told the ATP World Tour official website. "I was over in Miami for 10 days before I came here. It's very fast conditions, very quick courts, so took me a few days to get used to that. I like it here and hopefully can have a good run."

Lendl also admitted his golf handicap had improved since he started working with Murray.

"My golf has improved since I started working with Andy. I've got a good system going where I come down here [Florida] and stay overnight, then I get up early and get two hours of golf practice in before I hit with Andy at 10am. So my handicap has actually got a lot better recently!"

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