Andy Murray ready to renew his link with new mum Amelie Mauresmo

'The reason he split from Ivan Lendl was that the coach wanted to cut the weeks he travelled'

(Getty Images)

Andy Murray is breaking down barriers with every passing year. Three summers ago he became Britain’s first Olympic tennis gold medallist since 1908, two years ago he became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title for 77 years and last summer he became the first reigning male Grand Slam singles champion to appoint a woman other than a family member as his coach.

The world No 2 is set to break further ground in the coming weeks as the first leading man ever to be coached by a mother outside his own family. Amélie Mauresmo, who took a break from working with Murray to give birth to her first baby during the summer, will have further discussions with the Scot next week with a view to returning to work in December before joining him in Australia at the start of next year.

There appear to be plenty of details to be worked out, but Murray said here last night at the Shanghai Rolex Masters that he felt “very positive” about the prospects of her return.

It remains to be seen how Mauresmo will combine motherhood with life as a travelling coach, but at least her employer is likely to be sympathetic. Might she even share childcare resources with Murray and his wife, Kim, who are expecting their own first baby in February?

Murray is likely to want his coach to spend much of the year on the road. The reason he split with Ivan Lendl early last year was because the coach who had guided him to two Grand Slam titles wanted to cut down on the number of weeks that he travelled. Before she became pregnant, Mauresmo had agreed to work with Murray for about 25 weeks every year.

Although Murray’s results took time to improve under Mauresmo, the French woman was given plenty of credit for the upturn in his performances in the first half of this year. It was after she took her break this summer that he suffered his worst result at a Grand Slam tournament for five years, when he lost to Kevin Anderson in the fourth round of the US Open.

Jonas Bjorkman, who joined Murray’s coaching entourage in the spring, has been working with him regularly since the summer. Murray said yesterday that the Swede remained part of his coaching plans, but it appears unlikely that he will work at Grand Slam tournaments alongside Mauresmo.

“I’m not having two coaches at the one tournament,” Murray said last night. “I’ve done that in the past and haven’t found that to be beneficial really. I think from time to time it’s OK, but I think for me anyway, in the biggest events, having a very clear voice and having one person there is better for me.”

Murray will hope to go to the Australian Open in January as the world No 2. He reclaimed the position from Roger Federer this week and guaranteed that he would keep it for the time being with his emphatic 6-2, 6-4 victory here yesterday over Steve Johnson. Murray dropped serve in the opening game after making two double faults but quickly took charge thereafter to earn a third-round meeting today with John Isner.

Murray and Mauresmo at a practice session in January (GETTY IMAGES)

“I think if I was to finish the year at No 2, that would be the highest I ever finished a year,” Murray said. “That’s something that I can look at and use as motivation between now and the end of the year to try and do that. It just shows that my year has been a very good one. It’s been very consistent. I’ve won some big events, obviously not the Slams, but throughout the rest of the year it’s been good.”

Being ranked No 2 would mean that Murray could not meet Novak Djokovic, the world No 1 and defending champion, before the final of the Australian Open. The Scot said the seeding at tournaments was “the main benefit of being No 2 and then again the difference between being No 4 and No 5”. He added: “It’s still possible to win the events when you’re seeded there, but [being No 2] just makes the draw a little bit easier.”

Although Murray knew he would drop some ranking points this autumn, having decided not to defend the titles he won last year in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia, he is hoping to make up ground at the last two Masters Series tournaments, here and in Paris next month.

“Obviously I’m going to prioritise those two events and hopefully prepare well for them and play well here and Paris, then see where that leaves me,” Murray said.

Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who contested last weekend’s China Open final in Beijing, both won their first matches here. Djokovic beat Martin Klizan 6-2, 6-1, while Nadal was forced to work hard for a 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 victory over Ivo Karlovic after two hours and 43 minutes.