Andy Murray admits embarrassment at on-court behaviour

"The way in which you react is not necessarily linked to what you really think, on reflection."

Andy Murray admits embarrassment at on-court behaviour

Andy Murray has admitted he feels embarrassed by his on-court behaviour.

The world number two's former coach Amelie Mauresmo opened the lid on their recent split in an interview in which she indicated his difficulty in controlling his emotions on court played a big part in her leaving.

The Frenchwoman told l'Equipe: "Andy is complex. On the court, he can be the opposite of what he is in life. It can be confusing. I was there to help. I had the feeling I could not get things done."

Murray's most unappealing habit is taking his frustration out on his support camp by screaming abuse at them.

"Sometimes I am embarrassed," the Scot said in l'Equipe. "You have to try to understand that, on the court, a lot of things are happening to us.

"The way in which you react is not necessarily linked to what you really think, on reflection. That's sport. It's tough, there's pressure, it's not perfect.

"And then, when I say what I say, just because I am speaking in the direction of my box, it doesn't mean it's against my coach or my team.

"It's very often self-criticism. I am abusing myself. But I'm not resigning myself to this being unchangeable. I've been working on it for years, I am trying to be better."

Murray was particularly angst-ridden in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo this season, and it is now clear that can be at least partly attributed to issues in his coaching relationship with Mauresmo.

The Frenchwoman, who has a nine-month-old baby, was travelling less and less with Murray and had only been present in Miami and at the Australian Open this year before the split was announced.

It was noticeable, meanwhile, how much Murray's behaviour improved once the situation had been resolved, and six days after the announcement he beat Novak Djokovic to win the Masters event in Rome.

The 29-year-old said: "In recent weeks I've done some good work on my attitude. It's true, emotions overtake me sometimes on court. I am emotional, I know that.

"Some people say it's positive when I don't show my emotions, when I control them completely. Others say the opposite. It's very difficult to place where the truth is.

"The thing that is most important, is to know whether the fact of being emotional makes me play the points afterwards badly, if that disrupts me.

"I have in the past played matches where I haven't opened my mouth. Shown nothing. And they were matches that were horrible, lost, flat. You have to find the point of balance. I don't find that every day but, for three weeks, I have been getting there."

The first indication of a problem with Mauresmo came when she sat away from the rest of his team during his defeat by Grigor Dimitrov at the Miami Open.

At the ATP World Tour Finals last November, meanwhile, Murray's whole camp sat high up in the stands, apparently in an attempt not to provide a distraction for the Scot.

But Murray now feels it is a red herring, saying: "If, for example, in the previous match, I have complained about the tactics, the coach says to themselves, if they hadn't been there, I would not have been able to address myself to them, I would not have been annoyed.

"But the two matches you are talking about, against Wawrinka at the World Tour Finals and against Dimitrov in Miami, I lost them. So, that proves it doesn't change anything. That can't be an excuse.

"It's too easy to look for the reason for a defeat in that area. I never hear it said that I have won matches just because I was annoyed at my box and I was able to let out all my frustration."

Murray was due to play his opening match at the French Open on Monday against Radek Stepanek but more rain in Paris meant play was more than two hours late starting after only 10 matches were completed on Sunday.

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