Murray brought into Draper coaching team

Andy Murray has been brought into British number two Jack Draper’s coaching team for the grass-court season.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray has not been involved on the tour since a six-month stint coaching Novak Djokovic ended last year.

The move came after Draper parted company with Jamie Delgado.

Former world number one Murray, 38, will be part of Draper’s team for the grass-court season, including Wimbledon, which begins on 29 June.

“I am very grateful for everything Jamie Delgado has done for me over these past six months. He is a world-class coach and a great man,” said Draper, who reached a career-high fourth in the world rankings last year.

“In the interim, I will continue to be supported by the excellent team at the LTA, with the addition of Andy Murray, who will be supporting me throughout the grass-court season.”

Draper, 24, has struggled with a catalogue of injuries in his career and will skip this month’s French Open because of a knee tendon problem.

The 2024 US Open semi-finalist has tumbled down the rankings as a result of his prolonged absences and is set to drop outside of the top 75 after the Italian Open.

He plans to return for the grass-court swing after Roland Garros, but has yet to finalise his schedule.

A comeback at the start of June in Stuttgart – where Draper won his first ATP title in 2024 – remains a possibility, with Queen’s in London taking place a week later.

Draper hired Delgado, who was in Murray’s corner when he became world number one, as head coach in October.

However, they only worked together at four tournaments this season because of Draper’s injury problems.

The left-hander did not play competitively for almost six months after last year’s US Open because of a bruised humerus bone in his serving arm.

After playing one match for Great Britain in the Davis Cup tie against Norway, Draper returned to the ATP Tour later in February in Dubai.

But he has played only eight tour matches since and cut short his clay-court season after retiring injured with the knee problem in Barcelona.

Draper persuading Murray to help him feels like a natural union between the master and apprentice of British men’s tennis.

The bond between the pair has long been strong, with Draper often referring to Murray as a “big brother” figure and Murray available on the phone if Draper has ever needed career advice.

The strength of their personal relationship was also famously illustrated by the video of a beer-swigging Draper singing on their way home together from a Davis Cup win in 2023.

Murray, ever the contrarian, played up to the role of an exasperated older sibling and the pair became a viral hit.

It demonstrated a warm, natural friendship which meant linking up together in a player-coach relationship always felt inevitable – although the timing now is a surprise.

Draper already had a vastly experienced coach in Delgado, who is best known for his work with Murray but has a strong CV which also includes guiding former world number three Grigor Dimitrov to two Grand Slam quarter-finals.

While their time on court together was limited, Delgado had already implemented a change to Draper’s serving motion and would clearly provide a wealth of valuable knowledge on the British grass, having been part of Murray’s team when he won his second Wimbledon title in 2016.

For Murray’s part, it seemed he was finally content to take some extended time away from the sport which he has dedicated his life to.

The partnership with Djokovic was a steep learning curve and one which he found valuable.

But only last month Murray spoke about not wanting to return to coaching yet. Spending more time with his family was a priority, as was expanding his business investments and improving his golf game.

Now he feels the opportunity to help nurture Draper – especially without the commitment of travelling far from his Surrey home – is too good to turn down.

Nobody knows more than Murray about the expectations and stress which are planted on a British player at Wimbledon.

He also knows what it is like to battle physical issues as a younger player and become robust enough to stay on court for a sustained period – the first task for a partnership which has the capacity to thrill British sports fans.