Murray retired from professional tennis less than four months ago, bowing out at the Paris Olympics. And he’s already planning to get back on tour as Djokovic’s coach for the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025.
The two 37-year-olds have been rivals since their junior days and battled on the biggest stages with Grand Slam titles and the world No. 1 ranking on the line. They will now join forces, with Murray joining the Serb’s camp during the off-season.
When they announced the news on Saturday, many thought it was a joke – including Wertheim, a well-known tennis journalist who hosts the Served podcast with Roddick. But he quickly received confirmation that the arrangement was serious.
“At first you sort of chuckle and say, ‘Oh this is fun, maybe it’s a bit of a novelty, maybe it’s a bit of a publicity stunt’,” he said.
“Then I got a text from someone who was a former player of repute who said, ‘This is an act of war. This is Novak saying, basically, I’ve still got something in me and I’m not done going down to the basement and tinkering’.”
It’s more than just a statement of intent from Djokovic, it’s also telling for Murray, who – according to Roddick – had his pick of top players on the ATP and WTA Tours and turned some down.
But the offer from Djokovic was too good to refuse and Murray’s family reportedly stepped in to make sure he didn’t pass up the opportunity.
Wertheim continued: “This is not the first player that’s reached out to Murray. And Murray’s family unit basically said, ‘You are going to regret it if you don’t do this’.
“So it’s Australia, right? This isn’t like, ‘Hey, we’ll do this at Wimbledon, I’m going to be on site anyway’. I mean, this is flying across oceans and time zones.
“And I was told that people very close to Murray essentially said, ‘We know you too well. We know you are going to regret it if you say no to this. Go ahead and do it and see how it goes.”
It’s no surprise Murray went down the coaching route. During his farewell ceremony at Wimbledon over the summer, he was asked whether he’d return to watch matches in the stands and replied: “I would probably be more comfortable up there in the coaching box.”
But the Brit’s decision to get in Djokovic’s corner is what sparked attention, when he could’ve helped a younger player rise up the rankings. “It takes a certain level of humility to ask and probably to accept but I think it’s a really good move on both sides,” Wertheim added.
Only time will tell how the Djokovic-Murray coaching partnership will play out. But there’s no doubt both men will go all-in and take their new dynamic very seriously.
