Friendship is friendship, beyond rivalry on the court: Novak Djokovic, who has chosen Andy Murray as his new coach, knows it well. And Andy Roddick knows it well too, who – in one of the latest episodes of his Podcast Served with – revealed that the Scot turned down offers from many tennis players – women and men – to work with the Serbian champion.
According to the former 2003 US Open champion, the Briton received several interesting offers before accepting that of the 24-time Slam champion.
“I have heard, although it is not for me to say, that several top players, both men and women, asked Andy to be their coach and he has said them no. In the last four months he has said no to many players. In the last four months he has said no to many. And those who have asked him were very, very high up: they were absolutely elite players, both on the men’s and women’s Tour,” he revealed.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
The news of the collaboration between Nole and Andy has surprised everyone. Few could have imagined such a scenario, a few months after the Scottish champion’s retirement from the tennis scene. The Serbian champion, who has experienced – after many years at the top – a season without any particular highlights except the Olympic medal at the Olympics, has decided to start again with his companion of a thousand battles.
“That struggle that the Scot had to go through will be a value for Djokovic at this age. The fact that I say Novak at 38 is not as good as he was at 32 should not be up for debate. I think Murray has the highest tennis IQ I’ve ever seen. He’s competed with these kind of superheroes without a dominant shot on the court and without being faster than them. He’s a detail-oriented guy, he’s a master of match analysis, he’s one of the most detail-oriented guys ever. And Novak chose him because he knows he wants those conversations, he feels like he needs something a little different right now,” added Roddick in his analysis.
Tennis World USA