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Becker advises Murray to look for help

By AjayTyagi (TennisEarth.com), Submitted On

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According to six-times Major winner Boris Becker, Andy Murray needs to tap into the knowledge of some of the "icons of the game" if he is to move from Grand Slam contender to champion. The 42-year-old German, who won the first of his three Wimbledons at age 17, immediately ruled himself out for that particular job.

Murray lost out to Roger Federer 6-3 6-4 7-6(11) in the Australian Open final, his second Grand Slam final defeat after he was swept aside by Federer in the 2008 US Open. Becker said Murray had played the best Slam of his career in Melbourne but needs to work on his aggression. "You need to talk to people like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, someone Andy would listen to and respect," Becker wrote in London's Daily Telegraph. "For Murray, it is now about playing the right shot at the right time, not running or going to the gym."

Becker said Murray needed guidance on a daily basis from an experienced coach, despite the success in his own hammered-together Team Murray staffed mainly by friends and other part-time experts including Spain's two-time French Open finalist Alex Corretja.

"Andy will be among the top men's players over the next five years, but if he wants to be above them, not amid them, he needs to have someone in his corner who knows what it is like to win a grand slam, to climb the Mount Everest of tennis," wrote Becker.

"The air is thin up there, and Andy needs to surround himself with people who have been to the summit, who can describe to him how they got there, and how he can as well." Becker gave credit to the Murray camp for making the 22-year-old Scot "the third best player on the planet - but you cannot learn the skills you need out on the centre court from a book, or from hearsay." Becker advised Murray to get to work on developing an even more aggressive game.