Andy Murray insists he will wait "as long as it takes" to find the right coach to turn him into a grand slam winner. The British No1 begins the defence of his Masters Series title here today knowing the type of person he is looking for, but claims not to know his name yet.
"It's a huge decision to employ a coach for 30, 35 weeks a year," Murray said. "If that means spending three or four months without a coach then that's fine. I would rather be doing my own thing than rushing into getting a coach, and seven, eight months [later] having to find someone different.
"From being on the tour you start to know a lot of the players and the coaches, and have ideas about people you might get on with, people that might work well and people you have respect for. But I'm going to take as much time as it takes to find the right person."
Murray will not make his choice before the US Open. He will also try to forget about making it. He may even travel without a coach for a surprisingly long distance beyond the New York fortnight before naming his choice.
"It's really important for a coach to be calm," Murray said, "someone that understands people well, that can adjust to different personalities. It can be easy if you've had success with one player to sort of think 'OK, move on to the next one and do the same sort of things with them'. But I think being calm and versatile are probably the two most important things."
These two qualities almost perfectly describe Miles Maclagan, the coach from whom Murray separated last month, apparently after disagreements with the whole team about the schedule. The replacement will therefore be selected not just by the player but by all of Team Murray. "This isn't purely about my relationship with the coach," Murray said, "because everyone I'm working with needs to be comfortable."
Versatile has an ominous ring to it. It may mean Murray seeks a jack-of-all-trades subordinate. It certainly means the new coach must be a good tactician, an insightful scout, a decent hit-up partner, and a careful organiser, but above all, with the complex and sometimes combustible Murray, a good psychologist. "The player, I think, is the most important. When you're out on the court, they can't help you. But the coach has to be there to deal with you in the tough moments.
"The coach has to know how to deal with situations when you're deep in grand slam events and in the buildup to them, and just understanding you – what you need sometimes," Murray said, with echoes of public conflicts with another former coach, Brad Gilbert. "You might need to be talked to more sometimes, [but it's] knowing when to back off a little bit and just to let things go."
All this sounded significantly different from the views of Roger Federer, who also spoke yesterday of what he requires in a coach. "I like that actually the coach does have a lot of say, a lot of input," said the grand slam record-holder who recently appointed Paul Annacone, former coach to Pete Sampras and Tim Henman. "I never have arguments with my coaches because I like them to criticise me. I need that, you know, to become a better player."
By contrast it has been suggested that Murray, as a downside to his admirable strength of character, is more likely to go in the opposite direction if presented with criticism too directly. Choosing someone he senses is compatible may drag on. It will, after all, be one of the most important decisions he makes.