The coaching carousel has been very busy in the last couple of months with a huge number of change-ups during the off-season.  Today’s big news saw Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl part ways after two years together.  There were no indications that this split was on the cards. Here are a few thoughts on Murray-Lendl along with Miami predictions for Thursday.  I’ll get back to normal predictions later in the week, but I still feel like I am getting over Indian Wells.  Despite better draws for both men and women, I am not feeling Miami right now.

Andy Murray

This was a pretty chunky piece of tennis news and even more so because it didn’t leak anywhere and was first announced on Andy Murray’s website.  Perhaps the biggest shock of them all was that Neil Harman wasn’t the first to post it on Twitter and didn’t know anything about it.  I was surprised by the news, but particularly by the timing of it.  Murray will kick off his Miami campaign in a few days and it seems odd to me that this would come out before what is a pretty huge tournament.  I was interested by what Neil Harman posted on Twitter after learning of the news.

https://twitter.com/NeilHarmanTimes/status/446262964132511744

Murray’s start to 2014 has been an indifferent one after struggling to get back to his best after the back surgery.  His results had generally been improving, but the performances in Indian Wells certainly felt like a step backwards.  Perhaps knowing of this news about Lendl was one reason he did not look at the races.  Lendl has done wonders for Murray and he was there to witness him break his Grand Slam duck with historic victories at the US Open and Wimbledon.  Their personalities seemed to click and it was a partnership that I thought would last much longer than it has.

In the statement on Murray’s website, the move is attributed to Lendl wanting to focus on individual projects.  As these storylines emerge, I can’t help but make a judgement even though I don’t and won’t ever know the fully story behind it.  Despite the article discussing this as a “mutual” decision,  I get the feeling that it was Lendl’s move and it came as a surprise to Murray.  It will be fascinating to see who he replaces Lendl with, or anyone at all.  Ideally, he’ll want a new name in place for the clay court season.  Nine months on from Murray’s greatest triumph, Andy is currently going through one of the most challenging periods in his career.  The haze and uncertainty is likely to surround him for quite sometime, but I would hope he can turn things around in time for the defence of his Wimbledon title.

WTA Miami 2nd Round Predictions:

Serena Williams d. Francesca Schiavone in 2 sets

Klara Zakopalova d. Caroline Garcia in 3 sets

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d. Coco Vandeweghe in 2 tight sets

Sam Stosur d. Kiki Bertens in 2 tight sets

Sara Errani d. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in 2 sets

Ekaterina Makarova d. Rebecca Peterson in 2 sets

Sorana Cirstea d. Tsvetana Pironkova in 2 sets

Angelique Kerber d. Peng Shuai in 3 sets

Maria Sharapova d. Kurumi Nara in 2 sets

Lucie Safarova d. Vania King in 2 tight sets

Kirsten Flipkens d. Virginie Razzano in 3 sets

Sabine Lisicki d. Nadia Petrova in 3 sets

Ana Ivanovic d. Lauren Davis in 2 tight sets

Flavia Pennetta d. Olga Govortsova in 2 sets

Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Donna Vekic in 2 tight sets

Petra Kvitova d. Paula Ormaechea in 3 sets