A FAMILIAR figure held out a hand to congratulate Andy Murray as he clambered circuitously up to the players' box that fateful July day in 2013. Rather than Ivan Lendl, his mum Judy or any members of his family or team, it was actually John McEnroe, hidden in the Centre Court commentary booth, who was the first outside influence to greet the Scot after he ended 77 years without a home winner of the men's singles at Wimbledon. Now part of Milos Raonic's grass-court entourage, Supermac's habit of photobombing the sport's main plotlines will continue when he populates that same commentary position for US broadcasters ESPN to once again effectively stand between the Scot and the SW19 trophy.

There is a consensus amongst all the main participants that all this super coach stuff, so well rehearsed ahead of the Queen's Club final between these two men a fortnight ago, is merely a superstar sideshow. Lendl himself says it is "a non issue, not worth the words or the paper" while McEnroe and Raonic is a part-time arrangement which may well go into cold storage or the dustbin of history once the grass-court season comes to an end today.

It is Raonic, and not McEnroe, who will have to send down those thudding 144mph deliveries at moments of stress today. And it is Murray, not Lendl, who will have to get a read on it and send them back with interest. The Scot, in his 11th Grand Slam final, is facing a debutant at this stage in the form of Raonic and there is only so much that McEnroe's decades of experience and seven Grand Slam wins can do to disguise that.

But in this world of marginal gains culture, hearing the right voice in your ear at the right time can clearly pay dividends. As can making sure you don't hear the wrong ones at the wrong time. McEnroe's dual role as commentator and Raonic's grass court consultant, for instance, has been a source of controversy at SW19 this year, with Murray insisting he wouldn't listen to pundits in the employ of his rivals and the BBC forced to defend their man against allegations of impartiality.

This sense of careless talk costing lives extends to the personal relationship between these two 80s legends, where let's just say there is little in the way of idle chit chat.

"I think I have seen him once in the locker-room for a few minutes," says Lendl, who shaded the pair's three Grand Slam final meetings by a 2-1 scoreline. "I didn’t say we chatted. We don’t ignore each other ... but I really don’t recall seeing John much at all, he is doing the TV and I go and do my own thing.

"It’s not about John and I, it’s about Andy trying to win tomorrow. I am not privy to what he [McEnroe] is telling him. We can only think of what I would do if I was playing Andy and let’s try to prepare for that. You can’t really worry about what they’re doing. We have to worry about what we’re doing."

While both these players were already compiling fine seasons before these super star coaches got on board - with no little thanks to their existing coaches Carlos Moya and Jamie Delgado respectively - Lendl's second coming in the Scot's fold has been smoother than anyone can have imagined.

Whether it is tactical insights or that rock-like courtside demeanour which keeps his man on point, Lendl has helped his man rack up an 11-match winning run since returning ahead of Queen's Club and now stands on the cusp of returning him to Grand Slam glory in just three weeks. Murray is trying to avoid a fourth successive major final defeat but knows Lendl's legend status is undiminished by losing more Grand Slam finals, 11, than any other player in the Open Era.

The Czech was approached by both Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov during the interim but said it was only Murray who could prise him away from the golf course.

"It felt very natural," said Lendl. "As you know I have been approached by many players but I would never go mid-season to anyone because I think that’s the wrong thing to do. Andy is the only player I could go there with because after I spoke to him and I spoke to a bunch of team members, I spent five or six hours on the phone separately talking to all of them, so it felt like it should click right away. And so far so good."

The secret of the relationship, as far as Murray is concerned, is plenty of time apart and the fact that Lendl doesn't sugar coat anything.

"We spend a decent amount of time together at the courts and stuff but away from that we don’t spend a lot of time together," said Murray. "We probably had dinner together twice together the whole last time we worked together - he eats at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon!

"We each have our own hobbies and he likes to get out of here fairly quick-ish. So he's not on top of you all of the time. But when it’s time to work, he is there and he works really hard. He will certainly never lie to you or bulls*** you. It’s not always that easy to find somebody like that."

It can also be hard to find a release valve in such an unremittingly individual sport as tennis, and the Scot and the Czech are perhaps more similar than most would think.

"I always like being around people and I think he does as well, he just loves his golf," said Murray. "He loves competing and playing - having something to take his mind off tennis - and I like that as well now. When I was in my early 20’s, tennis was the only thing I was focused on. Now obviously there’s family.”

As for the McEnroe-Raonic relationship, the key is speaking to him "in a mathematical way, using the court as a geometry equation" and radiating positivity when serving in positions of duress. The only problem is that Murray, along with Djokovic, is one of the "greatest returners in the history of tennis".

"I don’t think it’s a big secret that Murray is playing better than he ever has," said McEnroe. "He’s got more confidence and adding Lendl has added that touch more belief. Milos has waited for this opportunity for a long time, and is one of the few guys that has admitted ‘I want to be the best in the world, I want to win majors’. But if you had asked Murray before the tournament started if he would take playing Raonic instead of Djokovic, I have a feeling he would say ‘yes’."