Andymonium wrote: please not brad gilbert!!!after listing to plenty of espn match comentary by him...lets just say ive heard enough. Hes is irratateing to every degree.....im not a fan. Dont worry! (or worry if you dont like him!) He's going to stick with ESPN :- "I know my name has been linked with coaching him [Andy], but I feel very loyal to ESPN, the American cable television company, and although they know I will be back coaching some time in the future, I am very happy doing what I am doing." I bet they pay well! http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-2221541,00.html
That arrangement did seem definately quite bizarre, I couldn't really see it working with Brad Gilbert. Anyway, I think that at this point in time Andy needs a coach who will be with him, week in, week out. He's not yet at the stage experience-wise when he can go without a coach for much of the year and only meet up with one for the big events.
What has struck me recently is that a big thing which Andy seems to be lacking in is proper preparation for his matches. Last summer, his success was definately aided by detailed preparation for each opponent, filming them and analysing their games and strategies using video camera and graphical software. This was shown most notably in Andy's match against Dent at Queens when he hit the headlines. Judy's pre-match analysis of the Dent serve enabled Andy to read it and attack it right from the start. When he played Stepanek at Wimbledon and Ginepri and Soderling in Bangkok, he had excellent game-plans for them.
Now, with the exception of the matches against Monfils and Ferrer on clay, he's just playing in the same way against every opponent, he doesn't seem to be trying to attack and exploit specific weaknesses which he's identified beforehand. If he can start doing that, then the wins may start coming again.
who thinks it likely to be brad? i hope he helps him on his serve, but i doubt murray will be happy if gilbert changes other aspects in his game! as murray said, he hopes to appoint a coach by the US open. i think he may have two coaches because if brad got other commitments and expecting murray to work on his game and fitness in america, i dont think he will accept it, but then who knows!