F ABRICE Santoro's business card, the one he memorably proffered to Andy Murray during a post-match televised interview at Roland Garros, ultimately went unused, but at least the affable Frenchman got the next best outcome.

If he wasn't going to coach the Scot, a player whom the former world No 17 regards as a kindred spirit by dint of their similar variety of shot-making, then why not his friend, countrywoman and occasional mixed doubles partner Amelie Mauresmo?

While the game-changing partnership - which is on a probationary period for the duration of the grass-court season - did not get off to the best of starts when Murray crashed out of the AEGON Championship at Queen's Club early to Radek Stepanek, Santoro feels this latest instalment of the Auld Alliance could indeed provide the Scot with a little je ne sais quoi.

Few have more hope that the arrangement will be a success than the Frenchman, who will stage a maiden visit to Scotland this week when he appears at the Brodies Champions of Tennis event in Edinburgh on a bill including the likes of Goran Ivanisevic, Tim Henman and John McEnroe.

"I am very happy about his choice," Santoro said. "You know how I like Andy. He is a great player, anywhere he plays in the world I always follow his results because I like the way he plays, and I like how he is off the court.

"I know him pretty well, and I know her pretty well also. It was always a pleasure to play with Amelie in mixed doubles, just as it is now a pleasure to have dinner with her at home. She is someone I am very close to. So when I heard that he was going to work with Amelie I was happy for both of them. Amelie is my best friend and it is a great chance for her to win something big with Andy. I cross my fingers that their partnership will be a success.

"It is a bit strange to see a female coach with a man but she is a strong girl and I know she is very excited about the challenge. I think it could be really good. But it is also something new, and that brings a lot of pressure.

"It is not easy for of them to start this new adventure at Queen's Club, just two weeks before Wimbledon. I think Andy has a good chance at Wimbledon, but a good run at Queen's Club would have been important for him. The main thing to do right now is to leave them time to work, get to know each other, and spend some weeks on the tour working together."

Precise details of the working arrangement between the two, and the interaction with existing Team Murray stalwarts such as Dani Vallverdu and Matt Little, are being thrashed out on a practice court somewhere near London. But Santoro is as close as you will come to an expert character witness on Mauresmo, a person who at times can seem as enigmatic as Murray's former mentor Ivan Lendl.

The evidence from her playing career is straightforward enough - it is all down there in the history books. Mauresmo's combination of strength and guile made her world No 1 in an era when Serena and Venus Williams were in their pomp, as well as the likes of Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, scooping two Grand Slam titles, the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon, in the process.

Her coaching pedigree is equally impressive. Santoro is vague on details when it comes to Mauresmo's short-lived coaching consultancy with another of his former doubles partners, Michael Llodra. It lasted just the duration of the 2010 grass-court season, harvesting a title win in Eastbourne, then a second-round defeat to Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, but he reckons there was huge kudos to be gained from her role in coaching Marion Bartoli to an improbable Wimbledon success last year. Her modus operandi appears to be a combination of steely focus on the court but being a likeable bonne vivante off it.

"She likes to spend time with friends, she loves to smile, laugh and have fun," said Santoro. "She and Llodra just worked together for two or three weeks. I don't know why they didn't continue, probably because Amelie was busy during this period. She has a lot of experience as a pro, she knows the job. And of course it is a huge achievement to guide Marion Bartoli to win at Wimbledon. This was her best victory in her career and she had it with Amelie."

For all the light-hearted banter on court that day at Roland Garros, Santoro is serious about developing his own coaching career, at least as soon as time permits. In addition to media work, he plays many events on the Legends Tour and Champions Tour, a pedigree which could make him a favourite to triumph in Edinburgh next weekend.

"I am 41 so I guess that makes me one of the younger guys," said Santoro. "Even when I was on the ATP tour, playing tennis the way I did was always something that was very fun to do. I always loved to be on the court, I always had a lot of fun.

"Now on the Legends Tour and the Champions Tour, it is a pleasure to be back on court. Coaching is something I will do one day because I love to do it. But I am very busy at the moment so it is very difficult.

"I have never been to Scotland before but I am looking forward to coming. It is going to be a new experience for me and I like that. It sometimes rains - that is what I have heard."

o Brodies Champions of Tennis at Edinburgh Academicals FC, Portgower Place, EH4 1HQ, from Thursday to June 22. Tickets priced £30 to £110 are available at www.championsoftennis.com