Breaking Down the Broader Impact of Amelie Mauresmo’s Time Coaching Andy Murray

Andy Murray ended his relationship with coach Amelie Mauresmo. However, the impact of her tenure as coach will linger for years. 

The fact that Martina Navratilova’s name is being batted around as Mauresmo’s possible replacement, is a testament to how Murray changed the conversation about female coaches. 

In a statement issued by his management company, Murray announced yesterday that Mauresmo would no longer be his coach. Although no reason was given, Murray and Mauresmo alluded to time spent together being a major issue. 

Martina Navratilova tipped to become Andy Murray’s new coach https://t.co/spxfsQ5LOz pic.twitter.com/l9WRSBYgWt

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Last year, Mauresmo missed several months of travel with Murray after giving birth to her first child. 

She told SkySports’ Mark Crellin, “Dedicating enough time along with the travel has been a challenge for me. I wish him and his team well and I hope he goes on to win many more titles.”

The two-year partnership had its highs and lows, but it enhanced the perception of women as coaches. 

Opportunities for female tennis coaches are few, even on the WTA Tour. So when one of the top players on the ATP World Tour hired a female coach, people took notice.

In an interview with The Red Bulletin in 2014, Murray told writer Ruth Morgan that he hired Mauresmo for her abilities, not to make a statement. However, he soon realized the impact of his decision. 

I knew it hadn’t happened before, but I wasn’t thinking of it being a groundbreaking move or having an influence that could cross over into other sports. Then, after seeing the response to it, and some of the things that have been said, I can see it is. I’ve actually become very passionate about getting more women in sport, giving women more opportunities. When I was younger, I wasn’t thinking about stuff like that. But now I’ve seen it with my own eyes, it’s quite amazing how few female coaches there are across any sport.

Navratilova told USA Today’s Nick McCarvel, “Hopefully, one day people won’t look at gender when they hire a coach…It made such big news when Andy picked Amelie, but to me it was like, ‘Really? I just don’t understand that line of thinking.”

Before hiring Mauresmo, Murray had a successful run with tennis great Ivan Lendl as his coach. Lendl guided Murray to two Grand Slam titles, including his historic win at Wimbledon in 2013. 

After the split with Lendl in March, 2014, Murray spoke of being “gutted” by the coaching change, per the Telegraph’s Simon Briggs. 

Later that summer, when Murray announced …

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