Handy Andys put coaches in the spotlight

MELBOURNE, Jan 24 (Reuters) Andy Roddick is sick of talking about his coach Jimmy Connors.

''Just look at the transcript from my last 16 news conferences,'' he bluntly tells a reporter who asks him to assess the influence of Connors on his resurgence, though the hint of a smile on the American's face betrays his gratitude.

The former world number one turned to the eight-times grand slam winner after dropping out of the world's top 10 last year and his impact was immediate.

Roddick reached the U.S. Open final, has climbed back to seventh in the rankings and powered into the Australian Open semi-finals with notable victories over former champion Marat Safin and ninth seed Mario Ancic.

''I like his energy,'' Roddick said. ''It's nice to wake up in the morning and go have a hit with one of your idols on a daily basis. That's a cool feeling, and I don't know if the novelty of that will wear off any time soon.

''I think we're all at a point in our careers where we know how to win tennis matches, it's just a matter of a coach provides that extra motivation and knowledge and support.'' Roddick's former coach Brad Gilbert is now working with Briton Andy Murray and the teenager has no doubts about his influence.

EXPERIENCED COACHES ''He's definitely one of the most experienced coaches in the world, he's worked with two great players in Andre (Agassi) and Andy,'' Murray said.

''He was a very good player himself, and definitely helped me a lot in knowing how to match my strengths up against my opponents' weaknesses.

''By the way my ranking has been going, you can see that he's been good, and I'm definitely not tired of him yet.'' Roddick says Connors has a very different style to Gilbert.

''If Jimmy sees something in my game I can improve he will tell me about it,'' Roddick said. ''But he's not really into the war-room, sitting down and talking to me for two hours.'' That was certainly a reference to Gilbert, renowned for his detailed analyses of opponents, but the taciturn Murray is more than happy to listen to his coach.

''It's a good combination,'' Murray said. ''I listen to him most of the time, some of the time I switch off. It's quite difficult but yes, it's good.

''I'd rather have someone talking a little bit too much. He's normally pretty positive, he's not being negative all the time, so I guess that's a good thing.'' TACTICAL PROWESS Gilbert's tactical prowess was demonstrated in Murray's Australian Open fourth-round defeat by second seed Rafael Nadal.

The Briton mixed up his game with a number of deft drop shots to move the powerful Spaniard round the court and the pair battled out a thrilling five-setter eventually won by Nadal.

World number 16 Murray, however, was not too despondent.

''That's the best I can play right now so I'm definitely not disappointed,'' he said. ''I know I can keep improving if I keep working hard with Brad and hopefully I will play Rafa many more times in my career.'' World number one Roger Federer employed a number of different coaches during the early stages of his career and even spent a year without one in 2004 when he won three grand slams titles. Since the beginning of 2005, he has enjoyed having 61-year-old Australian Tony Roche -- albeit on a part-time basis -- in his corner.

''I like just kind of the old school approach to practice, just go through thousands of backhands and forehands and volleys, do it over and over again and hardly take any breaks,'' the 25-year-old said.

''I'm kind of enjoying it...I think similar to Andy, having a coach who is such a great player as well always helps, and he's a nice guy off the court too, we get along very well.'' Federer admits Roche is not teaching him anything new.

''Now it's just reminding me not to forget things,'' he said.

''I'm not 19 or 20 any more where I feel that I can change my game much. It's the little details that make the difference, so that's what I'm working on.'' REUTERS SAM BS1234