Novak Djokovic gets honest about working with new coach Andy Murray in off-season

Novak Djokovic recently opened up about working with his new coach, Andy Murray during the off-season. The Serb parted ways with his long-time coach, Goran Ivanisevic, earlier this year and announced not long back that Murray would be joining his team as his coach for the 2025 Australian summer.

Djokovic is currently in Australia competing at the 2025 Brisbane International. He is the top seed and began his campaign by defeating Australian wild card Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3 at the Pat Rafter Arena in the first round. He will next go up against Gael Monfils in the second round

During the post-match press conference, the 24-time Grand Slam champion talked about his new partnership with Andy Murray . He expressed that at first, it felt "strange" to have the Brit on his side of the court after competing against him for over 20 years.

“Just overall very nice and strange feeling to have him on the same side of the court (smiling). You know, we've been rivals for 20-plus years and always kind of kept secrets from each other, the way we practiced, the way we prepared, the way we approached the matches. Never wanted to show weakness to your main opponents, your rivals," he said.

The Serb also stated that during the off-season, he and Murray spent eight to nine days together, getting to know each other better

“But now it's different. We spent eight, nine days together and shared a lot of information even before we met, and then together for those eight, nine days was really great, quality time on and off the court, getting to know each other I think on a different level we haven't had a chance to have in the past 20 years," the Serb continued.

Novak Djokovic praised Andy Murray as an "intelligent tennis player" and expressed that having him on his team has been a "pleasure" and an "honor."

“So to have a legend of the game, someone that is known to be as an intelligent tennis player as there is out there, it's a great honor, great pleasure for me.We haven't spent too many days on the court together, so I look forward to having him in Melbourne," he added.

Novak Djokovic: “We’re communicating daily, I’m excited to have Andy Murray in my team"

Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships [Image Source: Getty Images]

Following his win in the first round of the 2025 Brisbane International, Novak Djokovic said that he and Andy Murray have been communicating daily and that he is "excited" to have the Scot in his team. The Serb said that he is expecting their partnership to be a "fun one."

“We spoke before the match. You know we’re communicating daily. So I’m excited obviously to have him in my team, in my corner. For 20 plus years, he’s been across the net, for the first time ever he’s on the same side of the court. So it should be fun,” he said.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have faced each other 36 times on the ATP Tour with the Serb winning 25 of those matches.

Their final meeting on the tour was in the final of the 2017 Qatar Open which the 24-time Grand Slam champion won 6-3, 5-7, 6-4

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