The appointment of Jonas Bjorkman to Andy Murray's coaching team is a very smart move, according to the Swede's compatriot, Thomas Enqvist.
Bjorkman is a familiar figure to Enqvist - the pair turned professional in the same year, 1991, and were Davis Cup team-mates - and according to the former world No.4, Bjorkman is a great addition to the Scot's backroom team. "Jonas was a fantastic player - he was a great doubles player, one of the best around, and he knows the game very well," says Enqvist. "He's a good guy and a great person to be around so I think it's a good choice for Murray. Jonas has a lot of experience - he played on the Tour for many years and he knows the game really, really well. He was a very offensive player and was great at the net in particular so I'm sure that he'll bring a lot of things to Andy's game. I wish them luck and I hope they do well together."
There has been something of an invasion of Swedish former players onto today's tour: as well as the Bjorkman-Murray partnership, Stefan Edberg is working with Roger Federer and Magnus Norman is the coach of the newly crowned French Open champion, Stan Wawrinka. Enqvist does not believe it is something in the Swedish water that makes his countrymen such good coaches though, rather that it is the proliferation of successful Swedish players a decade-or-so ago which has increased the current ratio of Swedes on the tour. "You can see that a lot of former players are now becoming coaches because they have been there themselves and to be able to pass their knowledge and experience onto another player is very valuable," says Enqvist. "I think that a lot of players are searching for that and because we had so many good Swedish players, it makes sense that there are a lot of Swedes out there now. Also, Swedish players have quite a calm personality and I think the players maybe like that."
Enqvist reached the final of the Australian Open in 1999 but his best result at Wimbledon was the quarter-finals in 2001. He sees this year's championship as having two main protagonists though. "It's going to be interesting to see how [Novak] Djokovic reacts after the French Open because, for him, it was a disappointing loss," says Enqvist. "He's done fantastic all season but, for him, anything other than winning the tournament is disappointing, especially when he has been so dominant this year. It will also be interesting to see how Wawrinka plays on grass - he's obviously on a high right now and if he can come out and play like he did in Paris then he'll be a very dangerous opponent. But if I had to pick two favourites, I would pick Djokovic and Murray."
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