SCANDINAVIAN noir has never been more in vogue so perhaps it is appropriate if Andy Murray feels that adding a Swede to his coaching team can help cultivate his killer instinct.

Alterations to the Scot's travelling entourage are analysed with the same rigour usually reserved for cabinet re-shuffles but when the news filtered through last week that Jonas Bjorkman - the former world No 1 doubles specialist and No 4 singles player - would be spending a trial week with Murray with a view to helping out with coaching duties when Amelie Mauresmo is away, few reacted more positively than former Grand Slam champion Thomas Johansson.

A compatriot and contemporary of Bjorkman, Johansson is also a sometime doubles partner - the pair played legends doubles together at this year's Australian Open - and the duo spend a fortnight each year coaching at the Peak Tennis Academy in Stockholm, a pop-up tennis school for players aged 35 or over who want to work with professionals to improve their game.

The 2002 Australian Open singles champion believes Bjorkman's input can have a similar effect to that of Stefan Edberg on Roger Federer's style of play, allowing him to become more aggressive when attacking both the net and his opponent's second serve.

While Murray is undeniably one of the game's great returners, with only three players winning more points on their opponent's first serve in 2015, it is one of the mysteries of the ATP Tour that he is only 11th best when it comes to points won on an opponent's second serve. While Murray already has great instinctive skills at the net, an enhanced ability to work himself in there could prove a further string to an already formidable bow.

"I think it is a very good choice from Andy," said Johansson, whose day job now is as a rep for clothing firm H&M, official kit suppliers to Tomas Berdych. "I know Jonas and Andy know each other really well, and I know Jonas and Amelie also know each other from the past. It is a good match, because I understand that Andy wants to add something more to his game, particularly the volley game and his movement at the net.

"Jonas might not quite be comp- arable with Stefan Edberg at the net but he was a great volleyer. I remember how tough it was to pass him. If Andy can add that to his game, especially against Novak [Djokovic] and the big four or five players in the world, he has a chance to become world No 1."

The impetus to dominate at the net is magnified when it comes to the battle of wills in which the Scot finds himself locked with Djokovic. The Serb's super- human durability and flexibility at the back of the court have seen him outlast his Scottish adversary in their last five meetings, culminating in January's Australian Open final in Melbourne. It is a bleak pattern which Murray would dearly love to break.

"Andy already has a great volley, there is no question about it, but when you see the final from Melbourne he has so many chances to take the net but he waits and waits and waits," said Johansson, 39. "Against the top players, but especially against Novak, you really have to go to the net, because from the baseline nobody beats this guy. I think Andy has thought about trying to add something more to his game and I think Jonas would be the perfect guy to help him with that.

"I definitely think Andy has more slams coming. If he can add this more aggressive play to his game, who is going to beat him? He is so solid from the baseline and has one of the best returns in the game. He moves unbelievably well on the court so there are only a couple of things you could point out.

"The first is this aggressive game we are talking about, the next is the second serve. It has to get a little bit stronger. Jonas is also going to try to work with Andy on when the opponent has the second serve. Andy probably has the best returns in the world - along with Novak - but he is going to help him attack the second serve a bit more. That is something Jonas also did very well. Everyone knew how stressful it was to have a second serve against him."

Johansson is an under-rated influence on Murray's career, as he was a player the Scot idolised as a teenager and then encountered early in his development, at a time when the Scot's features still hid beneath that unruly shock of hair.

"I still remember the first time I met him," said Johansson. "I went to London a week before Wimbledon. My coach at that time, Magnus Tideman, also worked for years at the LTA so he knew a lot of guys. He said 'now you are going to practice against a guy who is probably the future of British tennis'.

"Andy came in, and his hair was everywhere. He was a very shy guy but an unbelievable player - he was only 16 or 17 but you could see that he had a great eye for the game. I said to my coach that 'for sure this guy is going to be a top-10 player if he continues to practice the right way'.

"I know him quite well now and he is a great guy, a really funny guy, and not a lot of people see that. They only see him on the court, and see that sometimes he is a little bit grumpy.

"Assuming the trial week turns out the way they would like and hope, I think Jonas, Andy and the whole team are going to really enjoy life on the tour."

While Murray plays Indian Wells - he was involved in doubles action last night alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis - Bjorkman is pre-occupied with the Swedish TV version of Dancing With the Stars. It is another connection between the Swedish tennis mafia and Clan Murray and Johansson for one feels the partnership could lead his rivals a merry dance.