Novak Djokovic caught the tennis world unawares when he announced that his new coach would also be one of his greatest rivals: Sir Andy Murray.
Six months on, results have been mixed. A couple of strong runs, in Melbourne and Miami, were counterbalanced by a string of first-round exits. And now, as of Tuesday morning, the partnership is officially over. So, how did this collaboration play out?
November 23, 2024
The most surprising announcement of the tennis year dropped while I was driving to a college reunion. My first thought was “This has to be a hoax”. My second was, “Damn, I’m going to be late for dinner.”
But then I started to muse – and realised that there was a certain logic to Murray’s new role as Djokovic’s coach. For Murray, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from the best player in history. For Djokovic, a way of reinvigorating his interest in the tour.
December
The superstar collaboration began near Marbella. Djokovic has a house there with an outdoor hard court attached, where the two men put in just over a week of pre-season preparation.
January 2025
Murray missed the Brisbane International, where Djokovic lost his first match to 7ft serving machine Reilly Opelka, because of a family skiing holiday, which had been booked before the coaching offer came in.
The real work began in Melbourne, venue for the Australian Open, where there were a few teething issues during Murray’s first match as a courtside coach. First, Djokovic seemed to complain of a lack of audible encouragement during the first set against unknown American 19-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy. Then, after coming back to beat Basavareddy in four sets, he waved his entourage away grumpily as he walked up for the handshake.
Yet relations seemed to improve during the tournament. Djokovic peaked during a magnificent quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz. This match was a tactical masterclass, revealing how effective the two master strategists could be when they put their heads together.
Here was the undoubted highlight of the partnership. An exultant Djokovic came bounding straight over to Murray after the win, and later told reporters that “This was a huge win for all of us, including Andy and myself, you know, for the relationship”.
Unfortunately, it turned out that Djokovic had torn a hamstring during the match. He withdrew from the tournament after one set of the semi-final.
Djokovic played only one tournament – and only one match – in the whole month, losing to Matteo Berrettini in Doha. Murray did not attend.
The boys got the band back together for the so-called “Sunshine Double”: the two big American two-weekers that run back-to-back and occupy the whole month of March.
Djokovic had not been a regular visitor to Indian Wells, appearing there only once in the previous five years. Asked if the chance to reunite with Murray had helped influence his decision to attend, he replied: “To some extent, yes, because I wanted to get back on the court with him sooner rather than later. I still feel like we are going through the process of getting to know each other on the court in a different way than we have known each other for 25 years. It’s obviously a new role for him [and] he’s also exploring it and trying to understand how he can excel in it.”
Yet when Djokovic walked onto the match court three days later, he lost to Botic van de Zandschulp to make it three defeats on the trot: his worst sequence on the tour for seven years.
And so to Miami, where Djokovic finally returned to winning ways against Rinky Hijikata, of Australia. After the match, the subject of his relationship with Murray came up again. Asked what he had learnt about his former rival, he replied: “I didn’t know how good of a golfer he is. Great humour. I mean, we knew that before. Just super-nice guy that cares about relationships with people, that cares about this coach-player relationship we have, and he wants me to do well. He’s just a very genuine guy. I enjoy spending time with him, for sure.”
The tournament was a restorative one for Djokovic’s fortunes, as he reeled off four more straight-sets wins to reach the final, before being blasted off the court by the 135mph serve of 19-year-old Czech prodigy Jakub Mensik.
April
Another barren month for Djokovic, who lost his opening matches to Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo and Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid. Murray was absent from the first but present at the second, not that it seemed to make any difference. Djokovic was flat and error-prone in both matches.
Interestingly, there were no more press-conference conversations about Murray. Reporters had stopped asking about the partnership. Fans had stopped discussing it. The honeymoon was over, and with it the buzz.