Andy Murray admits his surprise split with coach Ivan Lendl had been a tough one to take this week with the Scot in no rush to make any decision on a replacement.
Having first paired up in 2011, Lendl had forged a successful partnership with the tennis player culminating in Murray becoming the first British man in 77 years to secure the Wimbledon title last year with victory over Novak Djokovic.
Before that came singles gold and double silver at the same venue for the London 2012 Olympics, while just a few months later the British number one took his maiden Grand Slam when he lifted the US Open trophy, also against Djokovic.
Lendl himself is no stranger to major success having won eight Grand slam titles during his 16-year playing career.
And with the Czech looking to play more exhibition matches around the world, as well as focus on other projects, a decision was taken to reluctantly part ways.
"We sat down after I finished in Indian Wells and it had basically ran its course," said Murray.
"Ivan wanted to do other things and the time required to make a difference is more than he could offer right now.
"It's a shame and it's a tough one for me because it was the best part of my career I had with him, I have a lot to thank him for, he made a huge difference to my game and also to my team.
"He's been a big part of my life, so it's tough."
Murray is currently preparing for the start the defence of his Miami Masters title this weekend before turning his attention to Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Italy from April 4-6.
And revealing that a decisions on any future coaching appointment would not take place until after the tie, the 26-year-old is determined to remain focused on playing matters.
"When I finish in the Davis Cup, I'm not planning on playing a tournament for about four weeks after that," he said.
"I'll sit down and think about it. Right now I have a tournament to play and you don't want to rush into decisions like this.
"Often with ex-players the relationships don't tend to last for a long period, more than three or four years.
"So I need to decide exactly what I want now, whether I want to go down that route again or whether I do something a bit different."
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