World number four Andy Murray (5/1 Australian Open outright) has urged his fans to be patient when it comes to his relationship with Ivan Lendl, saying their partnership cannot be judged on his results at the Australian Open.

The Scot recently added the Czech star to his coaching team as he looks to break his Grand Slam duck and end Britain’s drought of 76 years without a major men’s title.

Lendl can empathise with Murray after himself missing out on a number of big titles before finally winning the French Open in 1984 and going on to win seven other majors.

Murray (13/2 Wimbledon outright) is in fine form going into the tournament in Melbourne having won last week’s Brisbane International and many believe he could finally make the breakthrough his talent deserves at  the first Grand Slam of the year.

Lendl will undoubtedly help him with his approach to the game but the 24-year-old says the partnership is unlikely to produce results in its early stages but could lead him to success in the future.

“I’m not going to get the benefits from having Ivan this week. I’m going to see it in six months, 12 months’ time, you know, when all the things we work on start falling into place,” he said.

“I mean, it’s obviously good to have someone with his experience around the slams and these situations. But in terms of the actual improvements in my game, it’s going to take a little bit longer than a week to make changes.”