London:Brad Gilbert, the man who transformed Andre Agassi into a multiple grand slam winner, has decided to join the British Lawn Tennis Association on a £5 million a year contract.
As part of his contract, Gilbert will coach top British player and World No 36 Andy Murray as well as train other LTA coaches.
Gilbert has lined up practice sessions with Agassi for Murray to help his development. Gilbert will coach Murray for 30 weeks a year and will spend the rest of his time with the tennis coaches in the UK.
"I am really looking forward to working with Andy Murray as he is one of the most talented young players on the tour," Gilbert said.
Murray and Gilbert, meanwhile, will team up for the first time at the Washington ATP event next week.
Gilbert, a former tour player, coached Andre Agassi from 1994 to 2002. Agassi won six Grand Slam titles and reached No 1 during that time. Gilbert also worked with Andy Roddick when he won the US Open in 2003.
Murray, a Scot who is ranked No 36, has been without a coach since splitting with Mark Petchey in April.
"I set a very high standard for what my next coach needed to have in terms of experience and Brad meets all the requirements to guide the next stage of my tennis career," Murray said. "It's great to see that the new LTA are looking to bring in the best coaches in the world to help British tennis."
He is expected to join Murray at the Legg Mason tournament in Washington, which begins July 31.
Murray, who has supplanted Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski as Britain's No 1 player, reached the fourth round of Wimbledon this year, beating Andy Roddick in straights set before losing to Marcos Baghdatis.
Comments
0 comment