Andy Murray: My communication with coach Ivan Lendl limited to when he accompanies me on tournaments

Andy Murray has admitted that he rarely talks to his coach Ivan Lendl when he does not accompany the world number 2 on tournaments. The 56-year-old agreed to return to the Scot's coaching team earlier in June to start a second spell after ending his three-year run with Murray in 2014.

Since Lendl's return as his coach, Murray has won the Wimbledon this year and also went on to bag the gold medal in the Men's Singles event in the Rio 2016 Olympics. It is the second time he has achieved this feat and on both occasions, Lendl was his coach.

Jamie Delgado, who also joined Murray's coaching setup, has accompanied Murray on his tour of Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna. He is alongside the British number one at the Paris Masters, where Murray has an opportunity to become the world number 1 if he goes on to win the tournament and Novak Djokovic fails to reach the finals.

Murray revealed that he has regular conversations with Delgado, but suggested that his talks with Lendl have been limited when he is not accompanying him on tournaments.

"I spoke to Ivan [on the phone] for about half an hour just before Vienna and Jamie and I spoke with him a couple of times the week before I went to China, but that's been it," Murray explained, as quoted by the Independent.

"Obviously we stay in touch through messages and stuff, but in terms of actual talking, that's been it."

"Jamie and Ivan speak and stay in touch pretty much most days. But when you have one coach who is there and another who's not around and doesn't know what the conditions are like and how you've been practicing, I find it's much better to have the one that's on site as the one communicating with me."

"I go through all of that with Jamie," Murray said. "Whether they speak about it — which I'm pretty sure they do every day when they communicate with each other — I don't hear about it. I think that's a positive thing. I have one message coming to me directly and that's from the coach who's there with me."

Meanwhile, Murray will face 22-year-old Lucas Pouille in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open after beating Fernando Verdasco on 2 November. He will be looking for another win in order to retain his hope of being the world number 1 alive.