Andy Roddick reveals secret Andy Murray detail that makes his partnership with Novak Djokovic all the more special
Andy Roddick has shared an aspect of Andy Murray's blockbuster partnership with Novak Djokovic that makes their pairing more special. The Serb has announced that he will have one of his greatest rivals by his side during the 2025 Australian Open.
While the Brit hung up his racket after the Paris Olympics this year breaking the hearts of many, the Serb split up with his longtime coach Goran Ivanisevic earlier this year. Since then, he has been working without a main coach in his team. On November 24, the tennis world turned upside down when Djokovic announced that he would have Murray as his coach for the Australian Open.
The 37-year-old Serb broke the news via a video message on his social media and joked that Murray didn't like retirement anyway, aimed at the Brit's viral tweet after his retirement. Roddick discussed this surprising partnership in the latest episode of his podcast "Served with Andy Roddick". He revealed that the superstar had received offers from top players to be their coach since his retirement, making his partnership with his former rival all the more special:
"I've heard that top players, male and female, Andy Murray has said no to many over these last four months." [12:27]
Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim, also a part of the discussion, said:
"I'll add a little on that, but apparently, I've heard the same thing. This is not the first player that has reached out to Murray, and Murray’s family unit basically said, 'You are going to regret it if you don't do this.'
It's also in Australia right, this isn't like, hey we'll do this at Wimbledon, 'I'm going to be outside anyway,' I mean this is flying across oceans and timezones and I was told that people very close to Andy Murray have simply said, 'We know you too well, we know you are going to regret it if you say no to this. Go ahead and see how it goes.'"
"And the other people asking were on the top of the pile too. They were high, high, high-ranked men and women," Roddick added.
Murray never won the Australian Open in his illustrious career, while Djokovic won the Melbourne Major an unprecedented 10 times.
A look at how Novak Djokovic was the biggest impediment in Andy Murray's path to an Australian Open title
Andy Murray won three Grand Slams, two Wimbledons, and one US Open. He defeated Novak Djokovic in the finals to win two of those three Majors. However, he could never win the French Open and the Australian Open. He reached the final of the French Open once but Djokovic defeated him in four sets to win his first of three Roland Garros titles.
Murray reached the Australian Open final five times. His first was a defeat to Roger Federer in 2010 following which he lost to Djokovic in the finals of 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016. The Serb also got the better of the Brit in the semifinals of 2012.
Murray's last win over Djokovic came in the 2016 ATP Finals final where the Brit won 6-3, 6-4. The two men faced each other 36 times in their careers with Djokovic leading 25-11. Now the Brit will have a chance to win the Australian Open in 2025 as the coach of the player who defeated him in the final four times.