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DOHA, QATAR – JANUARY 7: Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Andy Murray of Great Britain pose for a photo after the men's singles final of the ATP Qatar Open tennis competition held at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex on January 7, 2017 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by AK BijuRaj/Getty Images)
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The Athletic Tennis Staff
Nov 23, 2024
40
By Charlie Eccleshare, Callum Davis and Matthew Futterman
Novak Djokovic has appointed his former rival and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray as his new coach.
Murray, 37, called time on his illustrious 19-year career at the Paris Olympics in August but is returning to tennis to help the 24-time Grand Slam winner’s preparations for the Australian Open, which begins January 12.
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Djokovic, 37, said: “I am excited to have one of my greatest rivals on the same side of the net, as my coach. Looking forward to start of the season and competing in Australia alongside Andy with whom I have shared many exceptional moments on the Australian soil.”
In a video announcing Murray’s appointment on X, world No. 7 Djokovic added: “We played each other since we were boys; 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits.
“We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. I thought our story was over, turns out it has one final chapter.
“It is time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner.”
Djokovic parted ways with former coach Goran Ivanisevic in March this year.
Murray, who beat Djokovic to win his first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open in 2012, said: “I’m going to be joining Novak’s team in the off season, helping him to prepare for the Australian Open. I’m really excited for it and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals.”
The Scot defeated Djokovic to end Great Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s Wimbledon champion in 2013 before winning it again in 2016 after defeating Milos Raonic.
Born a week apart in May 1987, the duo were regular opponents as juniors and went on to play each other 36 times as professionals. Djokovic won the majority of those head-to-head meetings, with 25 victories to Murray’s 11.
Djokovic and Murray faced off in the Australian Open final in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 — with the Serbian winning on all four occasions.
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‘The one at the same level as us’: Nadal, Gauff and Djokovic on Andy Murray
Djokovic (left) beat Murray (right) in four Australian Open finals between 2011 and 2016 (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
‘One of the most intriguing coach-player relationships in tennis history’
Analysis by Charlie Eccleshare
Remember those matches where Murray would do something so utterly crazy you had to do a double take?
Well, it turns out he still fancies a bit of that in retirement. Today’s (Saturday) announcement caught everyone in tennis by surprise and feels like the sort of thing that would be suggested in online forums or by fans over a few drinks but doesn’t happen in the real world.
Come on, Murray has only just retired, he’s enjoying having proper time with his family and working on his golf game, he’s entitled to a quiet few months.
Or not. Instead, he’s signed up for one of the most intriguing coach-player relationships in tennis history. Certainly, it’s rare to have such a recently retired player linking up with one of their big rivals.
The Murray camp was tight-lipped on Saturday about what his role will be and how it has come about, (team Djokovic was also contacted for comment) but he will surely be a prominent voice given the mutual respect between these two.
The fact that Djokovic beat Murray in four Australian Open finals only adds to the intrigue around it given their partnership will start in earnest in Melbourne in January.
How Murray will operate as a coach is unknown, but he has always been held in extremely high esteem in tennis circles for his shrewd analysis of the game. His high tennis IQ was one of his biggest strengths as a player and one assumption has been that he will one day be the British Davis Cup captain (an event he almost single-handedly won for his country nine years ago).
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
‘The one at the same level as us’: Nadal, Gauff and Djokovic on Andy Murray
Djokovic doesn’t need much guidance on his shots, or the mental side of the game, but Murray will offer him a new perspective after a mixed year.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion won the Olympic gold medal he craved but otherwise didn’t pick up another title in 2024. This appointment shows that Djokovic, now 37, is looking to freshen things up as he attempts to reel back in the young would-be usurpers Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner who both beat him in a Grand Slam match this year and split the four majors between them.
Djokovic already shook things up in March when he parted ways with former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic, his main coach for two years and part of the team since 2018.
Seeing Murray in the coaches box, an area he used to hurl so much invective towards, will take some getting used to, but this could end up being a masterstroke. Or it could go the way of Djokovic’s last partnership with a former world No 1, the largely unsuccessful link up with Andre Agassi during the barren period of 2017 and the first half of 2018.
Either way, this announcement suggests that even in retirement Murray has lost none of his ability to stun the tennis and wider world.
Murray will understand what Djokovic’s experiencing
Analysis by Matthew Futterman
Empathy. That’s the word I thought of when I learned that Djokovic asked Murray to help him prepare for the Australian Open.
Djokovic likes to look at his box and see someone who knows what he has gone through. He’s had people there who haven’t played in and won Grand Slam finals, most notably Marian Vajda, the Slovak who had multiple stints with Djokovic during his career.
But look at the cast of characters he has chosen to work with: Agassi, Boris Becker, Ivanisevic and now Murray. That crew has 18 Grand Slam titles and a collection of other finals appearances.
It’s hard to imagine there is something Djokovic does not know about tennis at this point in his life. It’s hard to imagine there is an idea of how to beat any of the top players these days — most notably Alcaraz and Sinner — that he hasn’t thought of. Djokovic beat Alcaraz to win the gold medal in Paris this summer without a coach. It came after he made the Wimbledon final weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Djokovic has been just fine on his own.
And still, his box seemed empty without Ivanisevic or another big name he could jaw with during matches. Someone who could understand what he was going through in the moment because they once experienced it themselves.
If things go well during the offseason prep, Djokovic may have that again with Murray, who had a similar penchant for jawing with his support team throughout his matches. Murray will have a good idea of what is going through that brain, the unique pressures of being just about the biggest name in the sport and trying to live up to it.
That setup has always worked out well for Djokovic in the past. It’s hard to see the harm in giving it a go yet again.
(Top photo: AK Biju Raj/Getty Images)
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