• US Open

Murray: Mauresmo has overcome tension

ESPN staff
September 1, 2014
Andy Murray is confident he can break his barren run against top-10 players starting with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga © Getty Images
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Andy Murray says Amelie Mauresmo has overcome the tension she felt in his close-knit camp during the early days of their partnership.

Mauresmo began a ground-breaking link-up with Murray at Queen's this summer, but the Scot suffered an early exit before seeing his Wimbledon defence ended in a limp quarter-final defeat to Grigor Dimitrov.

It was reported at the time that Mauresmo's interim appointment to replace Ivan Lendl had caused some friction within Murray's close-knit team at SW14, but, nearly two months on, the Scot says the permanent arrangement is working well.

"At the beginning it was definitely different, not necessarily because she is a woman," Murray said.

"When I started working with Ivan it was the same - he is a different character for everyone to get to know and feel comfortable around so the team can be open and be themselves.

"After we spent time together in Miami away from all the cameras and stuff, after a week everyone was just being themselves. She fitted into the team very well. It hasn't changed anyone's personality or how we behave.

"But it has changed things in terms of how we communicate. It is much easier to communicate with her and that is a positive."

Murray takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 16 of the US Open today as he bids for a first win over a top-10 player since his Wimbledon 2013 final victory against Novak Djokovic.

Tsonga, the world No.10, has lost to Murray in nine out of their 11 meetings, but beat him in Toronto last month.

Still, Murray says he is confident he can end his barren run but insists it is not playing on his mind. "I'm aware it's going to be a very tricky match," he added.

"I've beaten many top-10 players in these events and I'm sure it will happen again soon. I'm sure that's the case on Monday.

"If you feel good physically, anything can happen, so you just need to be ready each match now and I'll hopefully play some good tennis."

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