“The perfect coach for me now is someone who has faced the same experiences that I will face: possibly a winner of multiple Slams, a former world no. 1. I was thinking of several people and Andy Murray’s name came up with my team and so I gave him a call to see if he was available.”
With these words released in an interview for Sky Sport, Novak Djokovic talked for the first time about his new coach, the Scottish champion with whom he has shared for years both the court as an opponent and the locker room and ATP events as a friend.
“I found him a bit unprepared because he didn’t expect it, but we hit it off right away and he accepted after a few days and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a collaboration that is a surprise for me, for everyone and for tennis. He was one of my biggest rivals, we are the same age, we played in the biggest stadiums and I can’t wait to get on the court and prepare for the next season,” said the Serbian champion after hiring the 3-time Slam champion as his coach.
Djokovic and Murray© Djokovic Facebook/Fair Use
Nole and Andy – who retired this year at the end of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games – have really surprised the world of tennis with the announcement of their partnership, positively shaking up the media, insiders and fans.
“I thought a lot about how I should face the next season. I thought about the things I needed at this point in my career, because in March I ended my relationship with a coach with whom I had had a lot of success and so I spent many months wondering if I needed a coach first and if so what would be the ideal profile,” explained Nole.
What to expect from this long-awaited collaboration? Something complementary I think. I already said it in one of my in-depth editorials why Nole’s choice is the right one (here you can read my feature). Djokovic made the wisest and rightest choice: the most difficult choice in some ways, because Murray is at his first experience as a coach. But seeing the Scot, I think he was born to be a coach, and he will bring to Nole those small details that the Serb needs to become competitive again. And I’m not just talking about tactical or athletic knowledge, but the psychological and mental aspect.
Tennis World USA