Andy Murray will need to get used to not being the centre of attention when he joins Novak Djokovic’s team, the Scot’s former coach has warned. The double Olympic champion shocked the tennis world by announcing he will coach his former rival at the Australian Open.
The Serbian superstar, 37, failed to win a Grand Slam singles title this year and still needs one more to break the record of 24 he shares with Margaret Court. Djokovic has won 10 Australian Open titles – including beating Murray four times in the final.
Jamie Delgado admitted he was “very surprised” at Murray’s return to tennis after ending his playing career at the Paris Olympics.
“When I saw him in September he seemed so relaxed and content with everything, whether it be golf or family time at home,” he told The Times.
Delgado was assistant coach under Ivan Lendl to Murray when he won his second Wimbledon title in 2016 before he went on to finish the year as world No.1.
He reckoned the job is a “great challenge that Andy will relish” and with Djokovic perhaps entering his final season: “If Andy was going to do this, he had to do it now.”
Delgado explained: “As a duo, Andy and Novak will be able to discuss and formulate strategies for different opponents or scenarios. Andy was amazing as a player in sensing people’s strengths and weaknesses very early in the match, and he will be able to do that as a coach from the front row of the courtside box. Bear in mind also that the ban has been lifted on coaches communicating with players during matches.”
But the former Davis Cup player also claimed that like Murray will need a “significant change” in his mindset after spending his career as the No.1 in ther team.
“Another adjustment for a player-turned-coach is the fact that no longer does everything revolve around you,” Delgado said. “Especially for someone like Andy, who contended at the top of the sport, all the decisions that were made, such as the times of practice, dinner or travel, were geared around him. That completely changes when you become a coach. You are now there for someone else and that requires a significant change in your mindset.
“The pressures you feel are also different. As a coach you are trying to take care of everything that you can control and make sure you have done everything to the best of your ability to get the player ready. But when you get to the match it is not in your control. The player is ultimately responsible for the shots that he hits.”
Delgado, who has also worked with Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov, added: “Bringing Andy into the camp as a coach now is a great move by Novak. He is approaching the end of his career and perhaps looking for something to give him that extra energy and injection to win more grand slams. Signing up Andy is fresh and motivating, and they will both be going after it big time to succeed as a player-coach duo.
“It also shows just how motivated Novak is. Working with Andy should act as such a spark for the new season, in which it appears he is aiming for big things. All of his rivals will be looking over their shoulders a little more tentatively at the start of next year.”
