PETALING JAYA, Jan 3 — Malaysian number one Syed Mohd Agil Syed Naguib believes having a foreign coach “is the way forward for the national team”.

Since Deen Hesham’s contract expired on Thursday, the team have been training under Mulyadi Jamal.

The newly-formed Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) committee under president Mirzan Mahathir, however, plans to hire a foreigner to coach the team “to the next level”.

“I was told last month LTAM may appoint a new foreign coach this year,” said the 22-year-old Syed Mohd Agil.

“I fully support LTAM’s plan. It would be great for the team to have foreign expertise and our local coaches can learn more about tactics and strategies.”

Having trained under Australian James Peter and Dutchman Eric Pietrsz for a year in 2014, Syed Mohd Agil is convinced Malaysia can have a good year by having another foreigner at the helm.

“We’ll go through the same training regime as international players like (world No 1) Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer,” he said.

“It’s the best way forward for our team.”

LTAM vice-president Sayed Alfeizal Sayed Ahmad yesterday confirmed they are in the midst of evaluating applications from a few foreign coaches.

“We’ve received applications from a few countries. We’ll announce our choice soon,” he said.

After the committee’s first meeting led by Mirzan on Nov 7, LTAM agreed to have more tournaments this year.

Syed Mohd Agil said he is looking forward to participating in them.

“The list of tournaments isn’t confirmed yet but we should know this month,” he said.

“I’ve started training and I aim to be more disciplined this year. I want more titles,” he said.

Since winning his first international title at the 2012 Asean University Games in Laos, Syed Mohd Agil has made good progress.

In 2013, he triumphed at the BMW National Circuit in men’s doubles with Ashaari Zainal.

The following year, he bagged his first win at the ATP Malaysian Open after downing national teammate Assri Merzuki 6-0, 6-3.

At the Singapore SEA Games last year, he won bronze in the team event as losing semifinalists.

Syed Mohd Agil and Assri were part of team that went down 3-0 in the last four to eventual champions Thailand.