Ivan the terribly nice guy

"No need for apologies," says Ivan Lendl over the phone. The Sunday Morning Post has been offering them profusely since picking up his call. The previous day, the eight-time grand slam champion and one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s, had rung for an arranged interview only to find us at a dinner engagement and unable to take the call. A champion and a gentleman, he simply said, "No worries", and called back the next day.

Not many sportspeople, let alone superstars, would be so gracious.

Miscommunication from the PR team of the BNP Paribas Showdown at the Asia-World Expo on March 4 led to the embarrassing situation on Monday night. The following day, Lendl is driving back after an early-morning training session in Florida with Andy Murray, who is in the front passenger seat.

We don't know if he is on the car's speakerphone but we ask what he thinks of Roger Federer's assertion that Murray is a bigger threat now that he is a grand slam winner thanks to Lendl's guidance. "Thank you for the compliment Roger," quips Lendl. "But Andy was dangerous even before I got involved with him. But it is still nice to hear that he has become even more dangerous under me."

The former world No 1 became Murray's coach just over a year ago. In that time he has instilled in the Scot the iron discipline that marked his own illustrious career and it has led to a marked improvement, especially in results at major events. Murray won his first grand slam title at the US Open last September, becoming the first Briton to do so in 76 years, as well as Olympic gold a few weeks earlier in London.

Federer was commenting before their semi-final clash at the opening grand slam this year, last month's Australian Open. Murray, who beat Federer in the Olympics final, beat the Swiss master again to reach the final against Novak Djokovic, which he lost in a thrilling five-setter.