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Andy Murray parts with Dani Vallverdu and Jez Green

By Geoff Nichols

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Andy Murray parts company with Dani Vallverdu and Jez Green

Andy Murray  announced some major changes to his entourage yesterday, with the news that long-term team members Dani Vallverdu and Jez Green would not be around for the 2015 season. It is a decisive move from Murray who is not one to shy away from making big decisions that he believes will benefit his career.

It represents another sizeable shift in personnel in the Murray camp, with the news of his engagement to girlfriend Kim Sears showing that she is the lone survivor of the changes Murray has made in the last year. The partnership he struck up with Ivan Lendl was incredibly fruitful and it appears that this latest reshuffle is an attempt to return to his former level of success.

Dani Vallverdu has been one of Murray’s closest friends since they met at the Spanish tennis academy that they both moved to as teenagers. There relationship grew from a personal and professional perspective, with Vallverdu acting as Murray’s closest confident on the tour. For the past five years the Venezuelan has acted as a scout for Murray, giving tactical insights on future opponents and he has been a regular fixture in Murray’s box during matches.

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Jez Green is also a familiar face for Murray fans and he also warrants a huge amount of credit for the work he has done with transforming Andy Murray from a skinny teenager who would cramp at the end of three set matches, into a the physical specimen that he is today, vying for the title of being the fittest man on tour. Murray has left now stone unturned in his pursuit of greatness and Green’s physical conditioning has been central to this.

Speculation about the future of Amelie Mauresmo as head coach of Murray also seems to have been halted following this surprise announcement. There have been mixed reviews as to the impact Mauresmo has had on the Britain’s game, but clearly he is confident that she is taking him in the right direction.

It has been suggested that the Murray camp, Green and Vallverdu included, were not happy at being sidelined in the original decision to appoint Mauresmo and perhaps the relationship became untenable. It puts an end to rumours, at least for now, that Murray would look to another ‘super coach’ in the form of a former great, such as John McEnroe, to reignite his career.

The American has stated his respect for Murray on a number of occasions and it would be an interesting mix of personalties were he to get a chance to coach Murray at some point. For the time being Mauresmo has the task of helping Murray make some major changes to his game in the off-season and it will be interesting to see what impact she can have over the coming weeks.

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