Andy Murray is prepared to appoint another former top player as his coach after splitting with Amelie Mauresmo.
Murray decided to part company with the ex-world number one before his run to the Madrid Masters final, citing a lack of time together as a chief concern.
Prior to Mauresmo, Murray, 28, worked with Ivan Lendl, who guided him to US Open, Wimbledon and Olympic success.
"It doesn't have to be, but it's definitely possible it could be an ex-player," the Briton told BBC Sport.
He said coaches who had played at the very top can "help around the Slams, in the big moments, the big matches".
The world number three added: "They've been there and done it and they understand that."
Murray said he was unlikely to appoint a new coach before the French Open, which starts on 22 May.
Lendl, who won eight Grand Slam singles titles, worked with Murray for just over two years before the partnership ended in 2014.
In that time, Murray became Olympic champion in 2012 before claiming his first Grand Slam - the US Open - later that year.
The Scot added the Wimbledon crown the following year.
What now for Murray?
Murray is playing at the Italian Open this week but will begin the process of finding a replacement immediately, through talks with his team and via agents.
He recently brought in former player and long-time friend Jamie Delgado to work with him for 35 to 40 weeks of the year, but he still wants a head coach for 25 weeks of the season.
"There's a week after the French Open finishes and before Queen's, so possibly at Queen's I could try something out," Murray said.
"I'm not going into a full-time relationship with a coach without having tested it and trialled it.
"I've done that with all of my coaches over the years and you do need a bit of time on the court together to see how the practice and the communication is going."
Was Mauresmo a hit?
Having spent just one week together since the Australian Open in January, Murray said his partnership with Mauresmo "just wasn't working".
After teaming up with the former Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, 36, at Queen's Club in June 2014, Murray's ranking dropped to a low of 12 before rising to a career-high of two.
He also won his first clay-court titles in an impressive run last spring but failed to add to his two Grand Slam titles.
"Although I didn't win a major while working with her, I got back up to number two in the world and had a positive time," he said.
"It wasn't perfect, obviously we would have loved to have won a Grand Slam, but some good things happened as well."
Asked if they had a proved a point about the ability of female coaches on the men's tour, Murray added: "Not so much me, I think that was more her."
