Murray tells of excitement as Lendl watches him win title

The British No 1 cruised to a 6-1 6-3 win over Ukrainian Alexander Dolgopolov in yesterday’s final, in front of the watching Lendl.

The Czech-born American won eight grand slam titles in his illustrious career and has been earmarked as the man to help Murray break through that threshold for the first time.

And the Scot told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme: “It’s very exciting. He is obviously one of the greatest players ever to play so he should bring a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge. He had a great understanding of how to prepare for big events both physically and mentally.

“We have spent six or seven days together and really enjoyed it. We’ve got on well and hopefully that continues. He has a similar sense of humour to me in many respects. He is a very funny guy, he has a lot of great stories from when he was playing.

“He’s an interesting character. He is very hard-working and is going to give me a great opportunity to play my best tennis this year.”

A major title is the glaring absence from the world number four’s CV as he bids to compete with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the top of the game.

He has reached the last two Australian Open finals only to lose to Federer and Djokovic, taking his grand slam final record to 0-3, but feels having Lendl in his corner will help with the pressure on him going into this year’s event.

“I think the advice I will be getting from him will be more in terms of competing at the big events and the pressures that can bring,” Murray continued.

“He knows the feeling if you are playing a grand slam final at seven in the evening, the nerves in the build-up to it, he understands all that stuff.

“When you are preparing for a slam final or semi-final you are not thinking about what is going on back home or what you are saying to the press, you are thinking about the match and trying to be part of history and winning one of the biggest tennis events.”

Murray set the tone for yesterday’s final with a solid opening game, sealing it with an ace.

Dolgopolov swiftly levelled, reeling off superb forehand and backhand winners in his first service game, but from then on it was one-way traffic, Murray winning nine games in succession as Dolgopolov struggled with a groin injury.

He saved two break points as he served out the set and raced into a 4-0 lead in the second with his mix of aggressive and intricate play.

Dolgopolov showed great spirit to claw his way back into the second set, getting himself on the board in game five and then stunning the Briton by claiming a break with a fierce forehand.

He held again – after six deuces and saving two more break points – to close to within a game of Murray, but that was as good as the mini resurgence got for Dolgopolov as the Scot moved up a gear to finish things off.

“My matches were solid. I served very well,” said Murray, who was forced to come from a set down in each of the first two rounds but improved markedly as the week went on.

“I managed to win matches comfortably against good players so it’s a very good start to the year.

“I had to rest up for a little bit after the [Barclays Tour Finals]. I was always going to. It was a long year anyway and I took pretty much two weeks off.

“Then I was over in Florida training, doing a little bit of rehab, just working hard. I got back to the gym, I spent a lot of time on the beach and did a lot of running, spent time on the court and just worked hard.”