Andy Murray ended his professional career at the Paris Olympics this summer, saying goodbye to the crowds and once again showing all his love for the sport. No one thought that the Scotsman’s career would last until 2024, considering the serious hip injury that had pushed him almost to retirement in 2019.
The 3-time Grand Slam champion never gave up, pushing his limits and showing the meaning of the word resilience to the whole world. The second part of Andy’s career was not as brilliant as the first, as the former world number 1 became a second-rate player and was no longer able to compete to win the most prestigious titles.
Andy continued to compete as long as his body allowed him, enduring the pain and always getting unconditional help from his family. Another back injury earlier in the summer convinced him to say goodbye to professional tennis and start a new chapter in his life.
Andy Murray© YouTube screenshot
Fans and insiders imagined that Murray would take a long rest before finding a new role on the tour, but the Scotsman left everyone speechless. During the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Novak Djokovic announced that he had hired Murray as his new coach for the 2025 Australian Open.
To tell the truth, Nole’s was not the only offer Andy received in recent months but he could not decline such an attractive proposal. Everyone is curious to see if the collaboration between these two legends will produce important results, given that the former world number 1 has no experience as a coach at the highest level. The Serbian ace chose him because he needs to find new motivations at this stage of his career, where he is competing with rivals much younger than him.
Jack Sock opens up on Murray
On the latest edition of the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast, former American ace Jack Sock confided that the last part of Murray’s career was a heartbreak: “I stopped fairly early. It wasn’t something I was interested in doing any more.
I think the Andy Murray thing, I think it was awesome for him.
But my h*t take was that it was also kind of sad to watch at times.”
Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray, Doha 2017© Stream screenshot
He also added: “Him going out there, hobbling around and it looks like he is trying so hard to be out there but it’s not really there anymore.
It’s one of those where I didn’t want to get to a point where you are almost forcing yourself back out on the court.
It is a little bit sad to watch would be my weird take or my h*t take but he is also obsessed with it and loves it and wants to do it, and he should do it.”
A very fascinating project
It will be interesting to see how the 3-time Grand Slam champion performs in his new role as coach. Everyone knows that it is not easy to manage Djokovic’s character while playing, but having a legend by his side could be useful for him to calm down in moments of greater tension.
It is likely that Andy will intervene a lot from a tactical point of view, knowing very well all the opponents that Nole will have to face next season. The 24-time Grand Slam champion will be seeded number 7 at the 2025 AO and will have to play his best tennis from the first rounds if he wants to achieve yet another feat in his legendary career.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray© Screenshot
The 37-year-old from Belgrade will make his debut in 2025 in Brisbane, where he will play both singles and doubles alongside Australian ace Nick Kyrgios. Djokovic and Murray have already worked together for 10 days and will meet again at Melbourne Park for the start of the Happy Slam.
Recently, former ATP ace Jeremy Chardy reflected on the relationship between Andy and Novak: “They’re not very close friends but they know each other so it’s always difficult, the relationship will be difficult because Andy was one of the best players and he beat him. And when you’re on the court you don’t see things the same way as a coach. I don’t think they’re going to argue. But maybe! Because sometimes you have to argue, it’s good to argue. Although I think they respect each other too much.”
Chardy continued: “For me, they will go for the full year on the big tournaments and if it’s going well they will continue.
It’s not magical, it’s a process, you need to believe in the process, believe in the direction you are taking. If they have decided to work together, it means they believe they can do something really good together.”
Tennis World USA