Ivan Lendl, who won eight slams, will work on improving Andy Murray’s competitive attitude and patience

Andy Murray has never wanted for friends in tennis. Many of the game’s biggest names think he will do in 2012 what less-qualified sceptics doubt he is capable of ever doing: winning a grand slam tournament. In the fan club recently have been Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek, Tim Henman and, with qualifications, John McEnroe.

The announcement on Saturday that Murray has finally taken the leap and appointed a coach – Ivan Lendl – will give heart to those supporters.

The Czech was in the vanguard of the physical game in the 80s, turning his iron wrist with threatening menace from deep and roaming all parts of the court with intent. He called it “playing hot”. It was tennis that allowed little room for dithering over attack or defence.

Murray’s critics have often accused him of playing “hot and cold”, caught in two minds often as he trusts his grinding defensive arts to wear opponents down from the back of the court. Against lesser players, it works; those above him in the rankings – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – are not so easily intimidated.

If Lendl, world No 1 for a total of 270 weeks, can bring his competitive attitude to the Scot’s game, there is every reason to believe he will be a more serious threat in 2012. He has the opportunity in Melbourne, where he has twice been a beaten finalist, to play that sort of game on courts that suit him. If Murray trusts his attacking instincts, we might see an entirely different player in 2012.

Lendl, who lost his first four slam finals before winning eight of them, will also teach patience. Nobody works harder at his game than Murray but occasionally he has been afflicted by a mixture of anxiety and frustration, and his anger has robbed his tennis of its full potency. Those moments have become less obvious and less frequent over the past six or seven months, an indication that all parts of his game are coming together.

His talent is not in question. Nor is his dedication. What he needs is a magic run – preferably in the same fortnight over seven matches in a grand slam tournament. Will he do it in Melbourne? It is a place that suits his style and his fitness, especially if the heat hits, as it has done in the past few Opens there.

He arrives refreshed after a decent break, apparently recovered from a groin strain but possibly concerned about a tweak to his vulnerable knees during practice on Friday ahead of the Brisbane International.

That tournament, with Lendl in the stands, should provide a clearer indication of where his game is going.

In recent weeks, several former players have expressed their faith in the world No4 on the ATP’s website. “The Australian Open and Wimbledon are Andy’s best chances of winning a grand slam,” says Ivanisevic. “I don’t think anybody else has much of a chance against Nadal in Paris on that court apart from Novak. I think when Andy wins the first one, it’s going to be easier for him and he will win more. I like the way Murray plays and I’m a big fan of his tennis so he’s definitely going to win a grand slam.”

Krajicek, another Wimbledon winner, predicted Murray would win his first slam in 2011; he still sees it happening in 2012.

“I think he’s going to win a few, and he might be a bit like Ivan Lendl and take a while to win that first one, but once he does he can go on from there. The way he played against Rafael Nadal in the first set of their semi-final at Wimbledon this year is as good as anybody I’ve seen play.”

Henman, who famously did not win Wimbledon but reached four semi-finals there, says: “Andy is still getting better and he will take out so many positives from the four grand slams in 2011 — he was in semifinals of all of them and there’s only seven players in history that have done that. For me he will keep improving his game and he can win a slam. He can still deal with his mental reaction to adversity better and if I could improve one thing for him it would be to get him to knuckle down when things aren’t going so well and just focus on the next point.”

McEnroe, who won seven slams, is equivocal: “It would make it even more interesting if Murray were to break through and win a grand slam, but these guys [Djokovic, Nadal, Federer] like to win and they are selfish. They are not going to give it away. I think Djokovic needed to regroup at the end of the year and he’s done that. Perhaps he’s rope-a-doping so that he’s ready for Australia. It’s exciting, unpredictable, you expect the big guys to have a say, but hopefully someone else will get in the mix and it could be Murray.”

• World No4 turns to eight-times grand slam winner
• Role is Lendl’s first senior coaching job

After a dramatic pause that would have done Harold Pinter proud, Andy Murray has appointed Ivan Lendl as his coach, a move he hopes will bring him his first grand slam victory in the Australian Open, which starts on 16 January.

Saturday’s announcement ended months of speculation and took many in the game by surprise, as the former world No1 would seem to have leap-frogged more obvious contenders, including Murray’s current part-time Adidas adviser, the Australian Darren Cahill.

However, it was hinted at when Lendl, whose American home is not far from the Scot’s Florida training base, said he would be interested in a job that had been vacant since Murray parted company with Alex Corretja after a miserable run of form in America during the dark days when he was coping with the disappointment of a crushing defeat by Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2011 Australian Open.

The split with the Spanish claycourt specialist followed disruption to Murray’s training team in July 2010, when Miles Maclagan left one of tennis’s enduring job-shares. Corretja has taken up the captaincy of his country’s Davis Cup team, and Maclagan moved on in September to coach Philipp Kohlschreiber. He also coaches Murray’s latest doubles partner, Marcos Baghdatis.

“It was important to me that any new person joining my team was able to add fresh insight,” Murray said. “Ivan’s impact on the game is unquestionable and he brings experience and knowledge that few others have, particularly in major tournaments. I look forward to working with him going forward.”

Lendl, who will be on hand when Murray plays Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the Brisbane International on Tuesday, said: “I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with Andy. He is a unique talent and I look forward to trying to help him reach his goals.”

There can be no doubting Lendl’s fresh eye; he won eight slams and reached 19 major finals – a record bettered only by Roger Federer – but has been out of the coaching loop for some time. That could be a blessing, as he will not come to the job with baggage collected with other players.

Murray arrived in Australia relieved that the groin injury that put him out of the ATP World Tour Finals at the O₂ Arena in Greenwich in September had cleared – although he was seen grimacing when he appeared to strain his knee in practice on Friday. “It’s a tough draw and you never know how guys can improve in the off-season,” he said. “There are a lot of good players here and young players as well.”

Nevertheless, he has a perfect opportunity to get his new partnership off to a winning start on his debut in this warm-up tournament as Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have not entered.

If he is fit and upbeat, Murray will also be an obvious threat in Melbourne, where he has reached the final twice without lifting the trophy.

What does Lendl bring? Raw aggression. The Czech with an American passport for 30 years led the revolution of power tennis in the 80s that transformed the tone of the game and he will encourage Murray to trust his beefed-up right arm at every opportunity. If that signals a more positive attitude, Murray’s long wait for a slam could end in 2012.

Still only 24, he has reached three slam finals and won 21 career titles. Although he has disappointed himself and his supporters at key moments, he has grown physically and mentally stronger and consistently goes deeper into tournaments, briefly climbing to No3 in the world ahead of Federer towards the end of the 2011 season.

He will have instant empathy with Lendl, who lost his first four slam finals before going on to a sustained run of dominance on all surfaces except the grass of Wimbledon, where he was twice runner-up.

World number 4 Andy Murray has announced eight-time slam champion and former world number one Ivan Lendl as his full-time coach.

The Scot will start work with the nationalised American immediately as they get ready for the Australian Open next month.

'Ivan's impact on the game is unquestionable and he brings experience and knowledge that few others have, particularly in major tournaments,' said Murray.

Lendl, 51 and born in the Czech Republic, made 19 grand-slam finals and held the world number one position for 270 weeks.

In a statement, Lendl said: 'I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with Andy. He is a unique talent and I look for…