Trial period for Andy Murray’s new coach as Brit progresses in Abu Dhabi
- Seb Sternik
- 17 December 2021
Following his split from Jamie Delgado last week, Murray is looking to rebuild his team ahead of the final years of his career. One man who has already started working with the Brit is Jan De Witt.
The experienced German coach has previously worked with French duo Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon among others. Murray said: "We've spent six days together, which obviously is not a lot.
"Here is an opportunity to play some matches and see how he goes about strategy and preparing for matches, and also debrief afterwards. So far it's been good."
The split from Delgado came about after he was offered the chance to coach Canadian Denis Shapovalov, and Murray said: "I think that's a great opportunity. I hope he does well.
"I was just looking for something a bit different. The next few years are the last few years of my career and I want to make sure I have the team around me that I want and believes they can get me to where I want to get to."
Murray is currently playing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. Following a 6-3 6-2 victory over English number one Dan Evans, the 34-year-old will now square off with old rival Rafael Nadal.
The pair haven't played against each other since 2016, and this will be the Spaniard's first match following a lengthy lay-off with a foot injury.
"I didn't know whether I was going to get the opportunity to play matches like that again," said Murray.
"Rafa's someone that I've had some great battles with at some of the biggest tournaments in the world. It'll be great. Hopefully we can put on a good performance for a couple of old guys."
