Australian Open Betting: Hard working Murray could hit the ground running

Amelie Mauresmo being coached by Loic Courteau - they are teaming up again to help Andy Murray

Andy Murray is beefing up his coaching team for the new season by taking on experienced Frenchman Loic Courteau. Ralph Ellis says he likes the way Britain's top tennis star is attending to the details...

The signs are it will be a stellar year for Andy Murray. Or at least that's what his official website says, and you'd like to think they've got some inside info. Britain's number one, they say, has "powered his way up the rankings showing signs of his usual brilliance."

But while the gushing writers employed by his agents are full of confidence, it seems the man himself is a darn sight harder to please. He's picking over the things that went right and wrong in 2014 and planning ways to make sure the new year is a whole deal better.

These are always vital weeks in Murray's routine, when he takes himself off to Florida for a brutal pre-season prgramme that sets the base for everything to come. At 27 he's now got the maturity to know that what you get out is only ever what you put in, and the preparation when nobody is watching in December is what helps you get through when the season starts for real in January.

A big boxing fan, he recently retweeted a quote from Lennox Lewis: "Hard work can get you in the game but it's the details that will put you over the top." It's a good maxim and it's clear that Andy is working at the details.

The latest change is the recruitment of 50-year-old former French Davis Cup coach Loic Courteau who is expected to sign up to work alongside Amelie Mauresmo. He was the man who inspired Mauresmo to her Wimbledon win in 2006 - the year she also won the Australian Open.

It's not a done deal yet. Courteau, currently contracted to take care of fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau, has said he wants them to "make me an offer that I can't refuse". But the hot gossip on the tennis circuit is that talks with his former pupil went so well that he's pretty much agreed to make the move.

Murray is 13.5n/a to win the Australian Open and that's a tempting price, even if Courteau won't be on the team by then because he will still by tied by his current contract with 33-year-old Benneteau, who has just enjoyed the best season of his career.

Melbourne is a favourite tournament for him.  He got to three finals in four years from 2010 onwards, and even last year, when he was only half-fit after recovering from back surgery, made it to the quarters.

This season his campaign starts on January 1st when he opens the Mubadala World tennis championship in Abu Dhabi against Gael Monfils, and the plan is to hit the ground running there in time to reach Australia in peak form.

Bringing Courteau onto the team confirms that Mauresmo is calling the shots now after their success together in the latter part of last season. Murray might have run out of steam when he got to the World Tour Finals, but his effort in reaching the O2 was a fine endorsement for her work.

Of course the shadow of world number one Novak Djokovic still looms over every contender. He is 2.26/5 favourite to triumph in Melbourne. But Murray has proved before that he can beat the mighty Serb and if he's fit and refreshed, he can do it again.

Yes, it could be a stellar year for Britain's top player. After all his own website says so.