Five months after retiring at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Andy Murray surprised everyone when he agreed to join Novak Djokovic’s team as a coach for the Australian Open. While the Serbian wasn’t able to clinch his 25th Grand Slam title, the British star has a positive outlook on the experience.
While many former players have described coaching as a tougher role than competing, Murray doesn’t see it that way. “It’s definitely harder playing, that’s for sure,” he told The Guardian in an interview. “I would dispute people that say it’s harder watching from the sides. I know how stressful it can be out there.”
Though he admitted to feeling some nerves leading up to matches, Murray found that once play began, his emotions were different compared to being on the court. “I felt a lot of nerves in the buildup to the matches, but when I was watching it I felt like I was able to switch that off. I felt calm at the side and was watching trying to do my job at times. At the end of the match with Alcaraz or important moments, you feel the nerves and things, but not to the same extent when you’re playing.”
Murray admits that he still has things to learn as a coach
Murray, who has worked with several top coaches throughout his career, always expected to enjoy coaching. “I never thought otherwise, but there’s things I’ve learned that was maybe a bit different than what I expected,” he told the paper.
Andy Murray during the 2024 Australian Open (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
He also admitted that he has work to do in the technical area. “As a player, I would understand the basics, but not extremely well like some very experienced coaches. Some of the guys I’ve worked with over the years have been very strong in that area.”
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However, he thinks his experience on court is valuable to his new position. “The ex-players generally would be quite good with strategy and understanding the psychology and stuff having played,” he said. “But there’s lots of other areas to coaching I need to learn about. There’s certain things I’ve really enjoyed about it.”
What’s next for Murray and Djokovic?
The partnership was always meant as a trial, and while Djokovic was full of praise for Murray, it remains to be seen if they will continue working together. After a positive first experience, both will now decide on the next steps.
