Monday, 7 January, 2008

Andy Murray's winning start to 2008 has been attributed to "technical changes" made to his game by his new coaching team, according to the 20-year-old's mother Judy.

The British number one triumphed in the season-opening Qatar Open, beating Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 4-6 6-2 for his fourth career ATP Tour title.

"He is quite confident in himself in terms of his physical ability and one or two of the technical changes he has made to his game," Murray's mum told BBC Radio Five Live.

Murray admitted it had been a tough week after an injury-affected 2007 but the victory was an early success for the new coaching set-up following his split with American Brad Gilbert in November.

Miles Maclagan and Louis Cayer have overseen Murray's progress in Qatar and Judy Murray believes improvements are already evident as the player warms up for the Australian Open by competing in an elite field at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne next week.

She added: "Louis in particular is very strong on the technical side of the game, he has made a couple of changes on his serve and on his forehand when he goes out to the wide ball. These changes are making a big difference to him now.

"One of the things Andy really needed to improve with was first serve percentage and in doubles it's so important to serve well, and he certainly served well in Doha."

Cayer is actually coach to Andy's brother Jamie, and when it was suggested Andy had taken away his brother's coach, Judy moved to clarify Cayer's role with the world number 11.

"(Louis) is definitely Jamie's coach - he is more the guru guy (to Andy), the consultant guy, and Miles Maclagan is the coach who does the travelling with him. So far it has worked very well, they are all people (Andy) is comfortable with and has fun with off the court, so yes he's enjoying it."

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