Tomas Berdych has announced that he will be coached by Dani Vallverdu, replacing Tomas Krupa, his coach since 2009. Berdych attempted to hire former No. 1 Ivan Lendl, who stopped coaching Andy Murray early this year, but Lendl declined in October.
On Facebook, Berdych wrote: "Dear fans and friends ...my new coach for next year will be Danny Vallverdu and Azuz Simcich...thank you to Tomas Krupa and David Vydra for great time and fantastic work."
Ranked No. 7, Berdych has said that he played well at times this year, but was not pleased with his overall performance at the Grand Slams. He reached the Australian Open semifinals, but lost in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, as well as the third round at Wimbledon.
Vallverdu was a longtime hitting partner, coach and friend of Murray. The Scot let him go two weeks ago and is now coached by Amelie Mauresmo.