Novak Djokovic will have a legend as his coach at the next Australian Open. The former world No. 1 decided to hire Andy Murray to help him win the 25th Major title of his legendary career, the 11th in Melbourne.
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This choice has left both fans and insiders speechless, considering that the former Scottish champion has recently retired and has no experience as a coach. However, Andy knows Nole very well, having grown up together and having shared their entire careers as rivals in every tournament in the world.
The 37-year-old from Belgrade has just experienced a fairly difficult season, in which some signs of decline have emerged after many years at the top of the men's tour. Novak did not win a single title in 2024 and only the gold medal at the Paris Olympics saved a year that would otherwise have been defined as a failure.
Despite missing the last two official events of the season the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin the former world No. 1 has assured that tennis is still his priority and this surprising choice shows that he still wants to be competitive at the highest level.
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It is not easy to predict what Murray can bring to the game of a legend like Djokovic, but it will be interesting to understand how the relationship between two of the greatest champions of the modern era will evolve.
Benneteau onNolesdecision
At this stage ofhis career, Novak needs to be more aggressive and get more quick points against opponents much younger than him. His main goal is to defeat Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have taken control of the tour at this time. The 37-year-old from Belgrade has lost many times to the Italian and the Spaniard in the last twelve months, which is why he has to work on his game again at almost 38 years old.
During an interview with RMC Sports, former French ace Julien Benneteau opened up on Noles decision to hire Murray as his new coach: Its not because you were a great player that you are a good coach and that guarantees success as a coach.
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Andy Murray will have the role of coach, not trainer, he will not teach him how to hit a forehand or a backhand.
I think Djokovic has a real motivation to be at 25 Grand Slams won, to be the only one to have done it and he will do everything for it.
And the fact that Murray joins him in his team, it is a signal that he sends to the others and also to himself in order to have another voice, another vision on the game of Alcaraz and Sinner to be able to beat them in five sets.
We must not forget Alexander Zverev who finished the year with a bang. And I think that it is in this perspective that he calls on Andy Murray.
A shocking choice
Despite being great rivals for many years and playing several Grand Slam finals against each other, Andy and Novak have always had a great relationship both on and off the court. The Scotsman and the Serbian grew up together, shared many common experiences and proved that you can be friends despite the rivalry.
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The 3-time world champion knows tennis very well, he was a great strategist as a player and will help Nole especially from a tactical point of view. His role should be similar to that of Gilles Simon in Daniil Medvedev's team. The former French player started working with the Russian ace earlier this year and helped him improve his strategy against certain opponents.
On his YouTube channel, top analyst Gill Gross analyzed Murray's potential impact on Djokovic in 2025: Hes played these guys and that certainly helps that hes experienced a lot of Novak Djokovics 2025 opponents Andy Murray will have played and in some cases will have played recently and therefore will have gone about the process of getting ready to play them and creating a game plan for them.
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Its not going to be copy and paste obviously to Novak because Djokovic is a different player but just to have already put his mind through those paces will have given him a head start so I believe thats a thats a really interesting angle here where Murray being so fresh off the tour is going to give him a bit of a leg up.
I think for Djokovic specifically, and this is really important, his next coach needed to fit in a specific box there needed to be a specific existing relationship already there.
