Andy Murray has opened up about his experience of
coaching
Novak Djokovic. The famous partnership between two former world number
ones ended just before the start of the French Open. Murray and Djokovic worked
together for just six months.
During their partnership, Djokovic played in the
semifinal of the Australian Open but was forced to retire against Alexander
Zverev earlier this year. The partnership was one of the most famous in recent
history, mainly because both players had been rivals for a long time, and
Murray retired from the sport last year after representing his country at the
Paris Olympics.
Murray has been recently quoted in a report by The Times,
where he stated that he is unsure whether he liked coaching Djokovic or not.
“We had a chat on the phone and he asked me if I would consider coaching
him, which I wasn’t expecting. I think it was a pretty unique opportunity. I
was really enjoying being at home but I thought I should give it a go and see
whether I enjoyed it. I’m not sure if I did.”
Those comments echoed what Djokovic said after their
split. The 38-year-old stated that the decision to end the partnership was
‘mutual’. Djokovic also went on to explain that he was ‘honoured’ to have
someone like Murray joining him as his coach and stated that he ‘learnt’ things
while working with the three-time Grand Slam winner.
"It was mutual,” said Djokovic just before the
French Open. “We both wanted to have a call and to speak, so we - actually, we
both were on the same page. So it was not, you know, his initiative or my
initiative. It was both of us coming together and just saying, you know, I
think we should stop here. That's what it was. For him to join my team and for
us to give a shot to this player-coach relationship was really an incredible
thing for tennis and for both of us. I was very privileged and honoured. I was
enjoying myself very much regardless of the fact that we haven't had maybe the
success we both wanted or people expected us to have. But I still think that,
you know, I have learned things on the court with him, I have enjoyed my
conversations with him about tennis, because I still think that he's one of the
most brilliant tennis IQ guys out there. Whoever he decides to work with next,
if and when, you know, that player is going to be lucky because he has
definitely a lot to share, a lot of great insights. It just didn't work out
between us in terms of results, in terms of what we were hoping for, and that's
all there is to it.”