Lendl hard to replace

Given that the average coaching relationship on the ATP Tour lasts about 18 months, you could argue that Ivan Lendl’s 26-month stint with Andy Murray did better than expected.

However, the odd thing is that they should abandon a partnership that has been so blazingly successful.

I understand that Lendl has other things in his life that he wants to attend to, including the sort of senior exhibition matches that he played against Pat Cash in London at the start of this month.

But how much time does Lendl actually need to spend with Murray to make a contribution? You would have thought they could come up with a reduced deal, maybe for 10 weeks a year rather than 20. Stefan Edberg is doing 10 weeks with Roger Federer this season and has already had a transformative effect.

When coaches and players break up, it is usually for one of three reasons. The first is finance — which should not be a problem in this case. The second is because the player has outgrown the relationship. Again, that does not apply here.

The third reason is because the two parties differ on what the player can achieve and how he can get there. Maybe Lendl felt that he had contributed everything he had to their partnership.

After Murray underwent back surgery in September and missed a couple of months, there was no real prospect of him climbing to No 1 in the world in the near future. I am only surprised that they did not want to go back to Wimbledon in the summer and try to defend that title together.

Lendl will be a hard man to replace. Right now, the two outstanding coaches on the tour are probably Marian Vajda, who helped Novak Djokovic get back to winning ways in Indian Wells last week, and Edberg.

Lendl was up there on the same level, in terms of the contribution he made to Murray’s tactical awareness and mental approach. The two of them had hit it off from the beginning and developed a real mutual understanding.

At his best, Murray achieved clarity of thought with Lendl’s assistance, and this is when you can deliver great results and win big titles. Watching him in Indian Wells last week, he just did not have the same certainty. He was playing more drop shots than I had ever seen; it felt as if he did not want to let the rallies get too long.

The after-effects of back surgery are always going to be hard to deal with. In all probability, Murray has not been able to put in as much work as he would have liked off the court.

It does not take much to knock your game off its stride; just look at Federer, who had a few back issues after Indian Wells last year, and found himself trying to end points too quickly. It took him the whole season to get back on track, and now, he is moving about as well as he has ever had.

Lendl had two options, then: To sit in there through a difficult time or go out on a high, and I guess we have just seen his decision.

Murray is a fantastic player and should have many more years in the top 10 to come. But Lendl’s departure is a blow. There are very few coaches who can add another dimension in the way that he has done.

Without him, it will be that bit harder for Murray to lift his momentum and intensity in the build-up to his Wimbledon title defence.

Greg Rusedski is a former British No 1 player who was ranked as high as fourth in the world. He lost the 1997 US Open — his only major final — to Australian Pat Rafter.