Virginia Wade is sure Andy Murray can bounce back after his quarter-final Wimbledon exit, but she has once again questioned whether Amelie Mauresmo should stay on as his coach.
This tournament was Murray's first grand slam working with the 2006 Wimbledon ladies' champion from France, who he appointed as successor to Ivan Lendl just weeks before arriving in SW19. Wade had said that she thought the decision to hire Mauresmo was a joke and was struggling to understand the logic behind it.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, the 1977 ladies' champion said: "I think it was very optimistic to think she could have an impact in a couple of weeks before a major tournament. I feel that he learned so much from Lendl that it is not that essential that he actually has somebody telling him what to do.
"Unless he can find the right person to be his coach, I think he is better off to fight a bit on his own and assimilate all of the stuff he has heard from Lendl and from his own experience, and work on that."
Wade added: "I think if the Amelie relationship is going well, absolutely keep her on. But I think it was really worrying for him, the last few months with all the speculation which certainly was worrying for all of us, that a decision could not be made - that he did not know who was likely to be there.
"If he can continue with Amelie, I think that would be great, but I'm still saying that he is master of his own fate in so many ways."
Murray, who won the US Open and Wimbledon under Lendl, is facing a significant drop down the rankings but Wade is confident the 27-year-old will soon be rising again. "He is just too good a player to stick around at number 10," Wade said. "I honestly thought he was likely to win the tournament again when I was watching him play. Some of his tennis was absolutely brilliant.
"I think his game is all there and it is just a matter of him getting himself back."
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