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Andy Murray’s and Rafael Nadal’s camps clash over role of women in men’s game

Gala Leon has been appointed Spain's Davis Cup captain

Paul Newman
Tuesday 23 September 2014 18:33 BST
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Gala Leon
Gala Leon

When Andy Murray next faces Rafael Nadal, which could be as early as next week in Beijing, the meeting of their coaches could generate as much interest as the on-court action.

The appointment of a woman, Gala Leon, as Spain’s Davis Cup captain has prompted contrasting responses from the Murray and Nadal camps. Murray, who became the first top player to be coached by a woman other than a family member when he recruited Amélie Mauresmo this summer, tweeted his congratulations to Leon, saying he hoped she would be the “first of many” to fill such a role.

However, Toni Nadal, the world No 2’s uncle and coach, criticised Leon’s appointment. “It is preferable that [the captain] is someone with a background in the world of men’s tennis,” Nadal told the Onda Cero radio station.

“I have nothing against her, I don’t know what her capabilities are and I hope she does her job well, but in theory she is a person that doesn’t know men’s tennis, because men’s tennis isn’t the same as women’s tennis. The men’s game isn’t the same as the women’s on a tactical level, not that one is better than the other.”

Murray has always rejected any suggestion that female coaches might be inferior because of their lack of knowledge of the men’s game. “There are a lot of coaches out there, male coaches, that Amélie could comfortably beat at tennis,” he told The Wall Street Journal last month. “I’m sure if Amélie played tennis against Toni Nadal it would be a pretty comfortable win for Amélie.”

Nadal and Murray are both playing at next week’s China Open, but before that the Scot competes at this week’s Shenzhen Open, where he will meet India’s Somdev Devvarman in his first match on Thursday.

Murray was asked about his contribution on Twitter to the Scottish independence debate, the world No 11 having said the “negativity” of the No campaign had changed his views. Murray told the BBC everyone should be allowed an opinion but admitted: “The way it was worded, the way I sent it, is not really in my character. I don’t normally do stuff like that, so I was a bit disappointed by that.”

Serena Williams retired with a viral illness when leading Alizé Cornet 6-5 in the first set at the Wuhan Open on Tuesday. Cornet, who beat Williams at Wimbledon and in Dubai, is the first player since Justine Henin in 2007 to beat the American three times in a year.

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