Andy Murray says he would be absolutely fine with receiving any angry outbursts of emotion or venting on-court from Novak Djokovic, his new coaching charge, as the two former longtime rivals prepare for their first tournament together on the same team at the Australian Open.
“Of course, I’ve thought about it,” Murray said in Melbourne on Thursday. “I would think that I’d be one of the people that would maybe hopefully understand that side of things. I know it’s not easy out there, and it’s stressful, and at times he’s going to want to vent towards his team and his box. Provided that he’s giving his best effort and trying as hard as he can, I’m absolutely fine with him expressing himself how he wants.”
Behind the scenes: a first look at Djokovic and Murray together on court
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Since Djokovic announced Murray as his new coach in November, the prospect of the Serbian venting towards Murray has been widely discussed. Both players are well known for their fiery demeanour on the court and their tendency to unload their stress by ranting and even screaming at their support staff. Murray said he does not want Djokovic to suppress his emotions in any way.
“I’ve had experiences of that as a player and watched other players. The description often of how the players look in those moments is that they look very flat. And that’s also not what you want. So obviously, there’s a balance and like I said, as long as he’s giving his best effort and trying his hardest, I’m absolutely here for all of that. I’m not wanting anything different,” said Murray.
After a series of missed calls between them in late September last year, Murray said that he was approached by Djokovic shortly after he had been explaining to a friend just how uninterested he was in coaching.
“I was on the 17th hole of the golf course, and the guy I was playing with said to me: ‘Do you know what’s next?’ I was like: ‘No, not really.’ He said: ‘Do you have any plans to do any coaching?’ And I said: ‘Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now.’ And then 30 minutes later, I was in the car and I called Novak, and then we had a conversation, and he asked if I would be interested in helping, which I obviously wasn’t expecting. I said to him: ‘Look, I need to think about it and talk to my family.’”
After considering Djokovic’s coaching offer with his family, Murray said he agreed to a trial for what he described as a unique opportunity. He noted that his wife, Kim, has been “very supportive” of his decision to work with Djokovic despite the fact that he retired from professional tennis in August.
“I thought it would be a good idea to try it together, and spend some time in the off-season through Australia and see how it goes for both of us, because it’s a little bit different. It’s not the usual kind of setup. So it made sense to trial it and see if it works. And then we said we’d make a more definitive decision after the tournament,” said Murray.
Having spent 10 days working on-court together during the Serbian’s pre-season training in Marbella, Murray has accompanied Djokovic on-court during his training sessions this week. Murray says that while their collaboration has been enjoyable at times, he has not joined Djokovic’s team to have fun. He is there to be an asset to Djokovic and help him achieve his lofty goals, which means winning a record-extending 25th grand slam title at the age of 37.
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“At times it’s very enjoyable,” said Murray. “But high performance is not supposed to be like laughs and jokes and messing around. It isn’t about that. In all the times I’ve been on tour, I haven’t seen that from any of the best players in the world. I’ve seen it from some of the lower ranked players, and that’s one of the reasons why they’re not there.
“The best players take it seriously and they want to improve, and it’s not always easy. It’s demanding, but it’s extremely rewarding when you make a breakthrough in a practice and something starts to feel a little bit better. That’s exciting.
“Obviously I expect when the matches start, the tournament starts, it is stressful. When you’re trying to achieve great things, it’s not easy. But the rewards at the end of it can be great. And that’s something that I’m looking forward [to].”
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