NOTEBOOK: Ex-coach says Murray needs to finally win a Grand Slam

Sep 9, 2010, 15:32 GMT

New York - Andy Murray's search for a new coach may take on additional urgency after his early exit in the US Open third round to Stanislas Wawrinka.

Former coach Brad Gilbert - never short an opinion in his role as television sideline commentator - has chimed in with his thoughts about the former pupil. Murray has been going it alone since parting with coach Miles Maclagan in July.

'Whoever Andy ends up with as coach may have one particular task - getting rid of those ghosts from Melbourne (2010 final) and Wimbledon and helping him to move on.'

Murray has stalled in two grand Slam finals, losing the Open in 2008 to Roger Federer and going down badly to the Swiss in Melbourne last January. Gilbert is even putting a timeline on a Murray breakthrough: 'It has to got to happen in the next couple of years,' he told London's Daily Mail.

'Andy puts enormous pressure on himself and the longer he goes without a major title the harder it is going to get. You would think that in the next two or three years other hungry, younger Grand Slam contenders are going to emerge as Federer moves into his 30s.'

Gilbert said that the January loss to Federer influences Murray's game to this day. 'He produced brilliant tennis to win the Canadian Open in August, but when you turn up at a Grand Slam the whole feel is different and other memories can come crowding in.'

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NOTEBOOK: Stan can't explain continuing Swiss tennis success =

New York (dpa) - It's tough for Stanislas Wawrinka to understand how tiny Switzerland outpaced the Americans by placing two men into the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time in the European nation's history.

Wawrinka did his part as he knocked out the last American man standing in Sam Querrey, coming through in five sets and four hours. The Swiss moved into the last eight for the first time in his Grand Slam career, joining Roger Federer.

With just 7.5 million people comparted to the 300 million-strong US, the Swiss have played well above their level in recent tennis history.

'It's difficult to say something,' said Wawrinka. 'We are just lucky because we have the best player in the world since ever, Roger, and we used to have Martina Hingis was the youngest number one in the world.

'Something has happened in Switzerland. But I don't think that's because we have some good coaches or some a stonger federation. We don't have a lot of players. But we manage to have some good players every generation.'