Andy Murray denies talk of rift with coach Mauresmo

Andy Murray has rubbished talk of a rift with coach Amelie Mauresmo after he crashed out of the Miami Open with a three-set loss to Grigor Dimitrov.
KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 28:  Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a backhand against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in their third round match during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 28, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida.  (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 28:  Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a backhand against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in their third round match during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 28, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida.  (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 28: Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a backhand against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in their third round match during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 28, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Mauresmo watched on from a different part of the stadium to the box where the rest of Murray’s team and family were located as the world No.2 produced more than 50 unforced errors in a 6-7 (7/1), 6-4, 6-3 loss to the Bulgarian late on Monday night.

Murray, who received a violation from the umpire for smashing his racket during the second set, insisted that Mauresmo was sat elsewhere in a bid to curb his on-court tantrums.

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“I’ve just been trying to find different ways to improve my focus on the court,” Murray said. “I also did the same thing at the O2 Arena as well, so I’m trying to find different ways to improve and that’s something I’ve tested to see if that might help.

“If I’d had a falling out then Amelie wouldn’t be here at the tournament. We had dinner with all our families on Sunday night, so we certainly haven’t fallen out.

“It’s one of those things that when I win no one says anything about it, and then when I lose that’s an excuse. I don’t think that is the reason for me hitting 50 unforced errors in this match.”

The defeat, in which Dimitrov showed the sort of form which propelled him into the top 10 of the world rankings in 2014, brought to an end a difficult American hard-court swing of the season for Murray, who is still facing challenges of life as a new parent.

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He lost to Federico Delbonis at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells a fortnight ago and he has won just two ATP World Tour matches since the final of the Australian Open in January.

“I got myself in a winning position so it couldn’t have been that bad, but couldn’t close it out. There were far too many unforced errors that crept in towards the end.

“Grigor is obviously a very good player, but I also had opportunities in this match. I was up a break in the third, same at Indian Wells, then lost a run of games in both matches. So I need to look at that and see where I go from there.”