Novak Djokovic announced that his longtime rival, Andy Murray, would be his new coach for the 2025 season.
If you want to be the best …
The two legendary tennis players have known each other for years, attending the same training camp growing up. As juniors, Murray won the first match when they played against each other. The rivalry became important to them, and the entertaining factor helped the sport of tennis.
“I’m going to be joining Novak’s team in the offseason, helping him to prepare for the Australian Open,” Murray said in a statement released by his management team. “I’m really excited for it and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals.”
Murray’s counter-punch ways could benefit Djokovic, who has shown weaknesses when his opponent attacks with an aggressive baseline.
Both have great improvisational skills. Murray’s instincts keep his opposition off their game. Djokovic is one of the best returners in the game; he puts a lot of pressure in his returns.
And Djokovic is stellar at is his mental game.
The way Djokovic describes it, however, is “it’s complicated.” But he does use fear as an advantage.
“I fear to lose a match. I fear to let myself down,” Djokovic recently told Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim. “I fear to let my coach down. I fear that I won’t deliver the game that everyone expects me to deliver. Maybe this is the first and only time a fan is gonna watch me. They want to see the best version… all these expectations bring high intensity.”
Murray retired in August of this year in a pretty epic way.
Never even liked tennis anyway.
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) August 1, 2024
The two have met a total of 36 times with Djokovic at a 25-11 lead overall.
First order of business- Murray will help Djokovic prepare for the Australian Open which begins Jan. 12, 2025.
[ABC News; Sports Illustrated]
