Djokovic on What Most Excited Him About Coach Murray

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 10, 2025

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are the biggest storyline of the 2025 Australian Open. The pair who met four times in the final at the Australian Open hope to go their together this year, as 24-time major champion has the Scot riding shotgun as his coach this year in Melbourne.

On media day in Melbourne on Friday, Djokovic talked about what he perceives to be the greatest strengths of Murray.

Djokovic said that Murray is an inspiration for him, first and foremost. “He really has inspired myself and a lot of people around the world,” Djokovic said. “I think that his unique perspective on my game is the fact that he has played me for 25 years. First time we faced each other was when we were 12 years old. He knows the evolution of my game, I guess the weaknesses and strengths of my game.

“I think his tennis IQ is very high. We all know that. He has done an incredible job, particularly after he got the surgery, his artificial hip, winning tournaments after that, playing on challenger level, someone that is a legend of the sport, just showing everyone what it means to be a champion in a real sense of that word.”

Djokovic adds that the fact that Murray was only recently playing on tour and facing the sports’ top players makes him even more valuable.

“He also knows the game, the tennis game, of the biggest players in the world right now because he has just recently retired as a player,” the 37-year-old said. “He was practicing and also playing against all the best guys in the world up to recently. I guess he’s up to speed with what’s happening on the tour.”

“I’m now here to sabotage his chances of winning another one” 😅

Andy Murray on coaching Novak Djokovic after losing four #AusOpen finals against him 🏆 pic.twitter.com/hxCLxwdOtW

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 9, 2025

The pair have spent what amounts to 12 days on the practice court thus far, so it’s still early days in this high profile pairing. But Djokovic likes the fact that Murray motivates him, and adds that they are gradually opening up the lines of communication to one another.

“We are just still getting to know each other on the court. We spent eight days in the pre-season period and now last four days here in Melbourne,” he said, adding: “He gives me motivation, inspires me really to be spending time on the court. We communicate a lot. We talk about a lot of different things. He’s trying to…