ANDY MURRAY will team up with Jonas Bjorkman this week for a trial both men hope and expect will lead to the Swede becoming a permanent member of the world No.3's coaching team.
Bjorkman's nifty footwork, such a feature of his game on the court, helped extend his run in Sweden's version of Strictly Come Dancing and delay his meeting with Murray.
But his timely departure from the show this weekend means the Swede, a former world No.4 and multiple grand-slam doubles champion, is free to join up with Murray.
Sources in the Murray camp said the Scot had expected to work with Bjorkman during next week's BMW Open in Munich, Murray's first clay-court outing of the year.
But Bjorkman is now expected to join Murray today in Barcelona, where the two-time grand-slam champion has been practising for the past week.
Nothing is written in stone, of course, but the arrival of Bjorkman is a welcome boost for Murray, especially given that coach Amelie Mauresmo is expecting her first child, due in September.
Should all go well this week, Bjorkman could play an even more pivotal role than initially thought. When news broke that he could be coming on board, the Swede said he hoped to help Murray be a little more aggressive on returns and improve his net-play.
Clay may not be the surface most suitable for that but Bjorkman is an infectious character and if he can add more positivity to Murray's game, whatever the surface, that can only be a good thing.
One thing that might prove to be a little tougher is getting the better of Novak Djokovic, who yesterday became the first man to win the first three Masters 1000s of the year.
Djokovic's 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych, which followed his straight-sets win over Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, confirmed his world No.1 status.
A rain delay early in the second set affected the Serb's momentum as Berdych hit back to level the match. But Djokovic, who beat Murray to win the Australian Open at the start of the year and won titles in Indian Wells and Miami, won the first four games of the decider to take control.
Berdych got one break back but Djokovic served out for victory.
With five weeks to go until the French Open, Djokovic looks a worthy favourite for the Roland Garros crown, even if Nadal may have something to say about that. Murray's French Open expectations may be slightly lower - though he made the semi-finals last year - but he should go into his next event in Munich in good spirits.
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