Andy Murray on left and Novak Djokovic on right. (FILE photo)
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray first crossed paths as 12-year-olds, but one coaching the other wasn’t in anyone’s wildest imaginations. Murray in fact said he had waved aside the idea just 30 minutes before taking up the Djokovic offer in November.
Speaking at length to BBC Sport, Murray recalled, “I was playing golf, and we’d been exchanging messages. Novak had messaged me, just wanting to chat. Then I was on the 17th hole of the golf course and the guy I was playing with said: ‘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’.”
Adding ge just could not turn down the unique opportunity to coach long-time rival at the upcoming Australian Open, he told BBC: “Then 30 minutes later, I was in the car and called Novak, and we had a conversation.”
The duo would trial out the arrangement at Spain in December before Melbourne this week. “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 the 37-year-old Scotsman speaking for the first time about the gig to BBC.
This is how the conversation went as narrated to BBC: “Novak 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.’ So I spoke to them, and after a couple of days, I thought that it was a pretty unique opportunity and experience.I thought it would be a good idea to try it.”
Murray retired last year after the Paris Olympics, while the Serbian legend is aiming to win a record-extending 11th Australian Open title, as well as a 25th major which would put him ahead of Australia’s Margaret Court in terms of all-time victories.
It wasn’t expected to be all joy and fun given the two intense personalities, and BBC wrote, ‘There will be little, if any, japing around in Melbourne.’
Murray, otherwise known for his quips, got a little grinchy when asked if there would be lots of laughs. He told BBC: “At times it’s very enjoyable. But high performance is not supposed to be laughs and jokes and messing around. 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.”
BBC noted that ‘during Djokovic’s open practice sessions against Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper and Arthur Fils on Rod Laver Arena, Murray watched every movement intently. Stood close behind Djokovic and sometimes in the doubles alley, Murray constantly offered feedback, shouted praise after winners and made notes during the practice sets.’
Expected to work alongside Boris Bosnjakovic, who runs Djokovic’s training centre in Belgrade, Murray told BBC: “It’s about making small changes to things and trying to help him and improve with the whole team.”
He expects tempers to flare. “I know it’s not easy out there – it’s stressful and at times he’s going to want to vent towards his team and his box. Providing 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,” Murray was quoted as saying by BBC.
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