Minor tweaks could yield big gains for Murray

The world No 4 hired Lendl, an eight-time slam winner, as his coach at the end of last year and immediately seemed to have taken a step forward as he pushed Novak Djokovic all the way in the Australian Open semi-finals.

The Serb’s transformation from nearly man to winner of four of the last five major titles has presented Murray with both another obstacle and encouragement.

Djokovic’s breakthrough came as a result of small improvements rather than any radical alterations to his game, and Murray is plotting a similar path.

Explaining his work with Lendl, the 25-year-old said: “There’s not been one radical change. We changed some of the things I practise, and some of the ways that I train and prepare for events.

“A lot of it is minor details. But if you pick 10 small things to work on and change, that can turn into a big difference.”

Murray safely negotiated his first hurdle at the French Open, beating Tatsuma Ito 6-1 7-5 6-0, and today will meet world No 48 Jarkko Nieminen in round two.

Unlike Ito, the Finn is a familiar opponent for Murray, who has triumphed in all three of their previous encounters, most recently in front of the Queen at Wimbledon two years ago.

Roger Federer was in record-breaking, if not sparkling, form yesterday day as he joined world No 1 Djokovic in the third round.

Federer’s 6-3 6-2 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 victory over Adrian Ungur of Romania was his 234th in grand slam matches, taking him past the previous record held by Jimmy Connors.

Djokovic also did not have things all his own away against Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic, the top seed coming from a break down in the second set to triumph 6-0 6-4 6-4.

In the women’s draw, top seed Victoria Azarenka breezed into round three, seeing off German qualifier Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-1 6-1 to set up a third-round meeting with Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak, who eased to a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory over 31st seed Zheng Jie.

Sixth seed and 2010 finalist Sam Stosur beat American youngster Irina Falconi 6-1 6-4 and next faces 27th seed Nadia Petrova, a 6-3 6-3 winner over Chanelle Scheepers.