Bjorkman plotting downfall of former pupil Murray in London

Twelve months ago the genial Swede was in Murray’s camp for the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena.

But that proved to be his last tournament as assistant coach, with their partnership ending in December, and this summer he linked up with former US Open champion Marin Cilic.

And, in a quirk of fate, Murray’s first match as world No 1 will find him pitted against Cilic and Bjorkman.

There could certainly have been easier opening matches for Murray. Cilic is probably in the hottest form of anyone apart from the Scot and won their most recent contest in Cincinnati in August, which represented an auspicious start to his partnership with Bjorkman.

The former world No 4 admits it will be a strange occasion, saying: “Absolutely. I was sitting at home watching when they played in Cincinnati, so that was okay. Watching at home is not the same.

“Here now, it’s going to be different, but it will be fun. I have a great relationship with the whole team. I’m so happy for Andy, what he has achieved this year.

“He really put himself in a good position for this year and has continued to play extremely well. I think no one else deserves it more than him.

“I saw the work he puts in every day and I’m really impressed the way he’s been playing the last couple of months.

“It’s obviously going to be a tough match for Marin to play him now when he’s in this form but it’s the group stage and you can be a little bit more relaxed. Hopefully Marin can go in and take advantage of the victory from Cincy.”

Murray overtook Novak Djokovic to top the rankings for the first time last week but he must out-perform the Serbian this week to hold onto it.

Yesterday, Djokovic recovered from a set down to defeat debutant Dominic Thiem 6-7 (10/12) 6-0 6-2.

“It felt very good,” said Djokovic. “Even though I lost the first set, I thought I didn’t do too many things wrong.”