'Murray was hard to handle'

2008-08-28 14:40

London - British number one Andy Murray can get to the top of men's tennis despite being hard to handle, according to his former coach Brad Gilbert.

Gilbert, who helped Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick fulfil their potential, was employed by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to show Murray how to move up the world rankings.

But Murray, 21, decided to stop working with Gilbert before the end of the LTA contract.

The American coach admitted there were flashpoints during their brief relationship but he has no doubts Murray can challenge the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the long term.

"The day before I started coaching Murray, I didn't know him at all," Gilbert told The Guardian. "There was a big age difference and a culture difference.

"Andy is very argumentative if he feels strongly about something. A lot of people in his team gave into him. I didn't so we would argue, about sports mostly.

"He lives a quiet, relaxed life, focused on being a tennis player but he is obsessed with video games. I don't play video games.

"People expect me to be bitter but I'm not. Look around and you'll see how many coaches get fired.

"We still speak. He is now doing a lot of things I was asking him to do, like being much more aggressive and stop hitting so many damn drop shots.

"If he plays more like that then great things are going to happen to him because he has great talent."

- AFP