A Jarring Tableau

A Jarring Tableau

Novak Djokovic added a master tacticianin coach Andy Murray.

Novak Djokovic added a master tactician in coach Andy Murray.

By Giri NathanJanuary 31, 2025

Novak goes to the head of Andy’s class. // Alamy

Novak goes to the head of Andy’s class. // Alamy

After stepping away from the tour last summer, Andy Murray followed the destiny of many a retired tennis player: getting extremely into golf. On the side, he was also playing some phone tag with his old colleague Novak Djokovic. It’s a funny story, via Simon Briggs of The Telegraph: “Novak had messaged me, just wanting to chat. It was just before Shanghai [which started on Oct. 2], and we’d exchanged messages and missed calls and stuff. Then eventually I was on the 17th hole of the golf course, and the guy I was playing with said to me, ‘Do you know what’s next?’ I was like, ‘No, not really.’ He said, ‘Do you have any plans to do any coaching?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now.’”

After the golf, sitting in his car, he received a phone call from Djokovic inviting him to do just that: coach. Murray had to clear it with his family. They accepted it, on the premise that Djokovic was presumably winding down his career, so it wouldn’t be too extensive of a time commitment. It would also be on a trial basis. Player and coach would spend 10 days training in the offseason, take a break—Murray was headed on a ski vacation with his family—reunite for the Australian Open, and then evaluate the partnership after the tournament.

For Murray, it was a chance to work for a man he’d known since they were juniors, a peer who had once even been recruited to play for the same country. (One of the more amusing counterfactuals on the ATP is Novak Djokovic playing under the Union Jack.) After 36 matches against each other—Djokovic won 25—they’d finally have their incentives aligned. Murray could bring a few things to his rival: a fresh source of motivation for a man who had nothing left to win, an intimate understanding of Djokovic’s own game, the overall tactical savvy that Murray was known for, and scouting reports on the ATP players Murray had been competing with as recently as five months prior. When you poach your coach out of his first year of retirement, those insights are still hot and fresh.

Speaking after their offseason training, Djokovic reported that the partnership was enriching, if peculiar. “Just overall, a very nice and strange feeling to have him on the same side of the court. We have been rivals for 20-plus years and always kind of kept secrets from each other about the way we practiced, the way we prepared, and the way we approached the matches.” It was also peculiar for us watching from the outside. Thanks to the Australian Open’s new courtside coaching boxes, we could see Murray conferring with Djokovic mid-match, miming backhands, muttering his observations, delivering a fist pump here and there, calmly absorbing Djokovic’s outbursts. Murray’s demeanor in the box was quite mild, closer to his dry civilian persona than his vinegary on-court persona. “I felt a lot of nerves and stuff in the buildup to the matches,” said Murray after the tournament, “but when I was watching it I felt like I was able to sort of switch that off. I felt calm at the side and was sort of watching, trying to do my job.”

When the partnership was first announced, it sounded like a stunt, but as the matches went on, and I became desensitized to the jarring tableau, it wasn’t hard to see the appeal. Djokovic had the luxury of discussing nitty-gritty details with a player who’d always been known for his meticulous approach to the game. They spent their time puzzling out “how I can gain an inch more court positioning,” Djokovic said.

Murray, reflecting on their early days together, said in an interview on the Australian TV program The Project that coaching was “more demanding” than he’d expected. “I wish I’d known that when I was playing. Then maybe I would’ve been a bit easier to work with.” To his credit, Murray wasn’t skimping on any of his homework. According to Tim Henman on the Eurosport broadcast, the novice coach had prepared for Djokovic’s first-round match by watching 20 hours(!) of his opponent, who had never before played a main-draw match at a major. Even speaking as a big fan of the young Indian-American, that is just a staggering amount of Nishesh Basavareddy footage to consume.

If that was Murray’s standard, I can’t fathom how much Carlos Alcaraz footage he ate up in anticipation of their Australian Open quarterfinal. Murray, one of the most vocal proponents of young talent you’ll ever see, had identified Alcaraz as a future world No. 1 back in 2021, and in 2024 tweeted “Watching Alcaraz play tennis makes me smile,” with a blushing smile emoji and a heart emoji. Given those facts, it was a little surreal to watch him cheer a 10-time Melbourne champion on to victory over a rising superstar. But that’s what the money is for. After pulling off the spectacular four-set triumph on a bum hamstring, the player screamed in triumph, the coach could be seen letting out an enormous sigh, and the two shared a courtside hug.

A defeat of Alcaraz deep at a Slam was probably something like a 98th percentile outcome for this new partnership. But it also only lasted another set of tennis. Djokovic retired due to his hamstring injury after dropping the first set of his semifinal against Sascha Zverev. “I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me. Give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, and see how he feels and we make the next step,” said Djokovic after the match. He said they were still “hotheaded and disappointed” and would chat once they’d had a chance to “cool off.” He has yet to offer any public update.

Murray, meanwhile, also had positive reviews of his coaching experience, even if he did feel it was a bit “embarrassing” to get so much credit for Novak’s successes. He said that he felt equipped to handle the strategic and psychological aspects of coaching but still had a lot to learn about the technical side. He also sounded grateful as a pure fan of the sport: “I got to witness some amazing tennis, and one of the best matches that I’ve seen live, against Alcaraz.”

Right after he retired, he tweeted “Never liked tennis anyway.” This from a man who got a metal hip so he could play more of it. Nobody will ever manage to pry him away from this game.



The Hopper

—CLAY Tennis on Beatriz Haddad Maia’s US Open run.

—Giri on Iga Swiatek’s loss to Jess Pegula.

—Jon Wertheim’s mailbag is full this week.

—Sara Errani and Andrea Vavasori have won the US Open mixed doubles.

—Tim Newcomb on Taylor Fritz and Asics.



PURE, ORIGINAL TENNIS — SIGN UP!