Andy Murray brings old friend into coaching camp ahead of Wimbledon

Andy Murray has added his friend and doubles specialist Jonny O’Mara to his coaching team for the start of the grass court season at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy. The world No 43 is hoping for a strong showing on the grass this year and hopes to have a deep run at Wimbledon.

O’Mara – a former world No 44 in doubles – joined Murray at the recent Bordeaux Challenger, where he suffered a heavy 6-3 6-0 defeat to Stan Wawrinka. And he is set to spend a few days with the former world No 1 as he begins his grass-court campaign in Surbiton.

The three-time Major champion is still working with Ivan Lendl. Mark Hilton – was seen in his box during the clay court tournaments – also remains part of the Murray camp.

While nothing has been formalised yet, O’Mara could join the team if all goes well. But the 28-year-old will still be competing at Wimbledon himself, in the doubles draw.

Murray previously shared his hopes of having a deep run at SW19 and pulled out of the French Open to prioritise his grass-court preparations ahead of Wimbledon. Speaking at the Madrid Masters earlier this year, he said: “I also have ambitions of, you know, competing for Wimbledon titles and that sort of stuff.

“And I know that sitting here today that probably doesn’t sound realistic, but I do believe that that’s a possibility. I obviously want to do the right thing there.” In his first outing on the grass this year, Murray will face Hyeon Chung in his opening match in Surbiton on Monday.

The 27-year-old entered the tournament during his protected ranking after injury saw him sidelined for several years. A former top 20 player, Chung famously upset then-six-time champion Novak Djokovic at the 2018 Australian Open.