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Andy Murray reveals his pick for the greatest player between Federer, Djokovic and Nadal
Ahead of the Australian Open, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic surprised everyone by announcing that the British star was joining the Serbian’s coaching team. While Murray has already opened up about the most challenging part of being a coach, he is now revealing what he found to be his “unique” perspective and strength.
Speaking on the Sporting Misadventures podcast, Murray said that having competed against Djokovic for many years compensated for his lack of experience as a coach. “I do think it’s a unique perspective I have on Novak’s game that I’m able to make up for some of those weaknesses and flaws that I would have (as an inexperienced coach) because I’ve competed against him in the biggest matches on the biggest stages over a 10-12 year period,” he said.
Murray added, “I’ve studied his game a lot but also experienced what It’s like to play against him. We had those conversations. Hopefully it was beneficial for him. I know if I was a player, I would have found that helpful.”
The former World No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion also said that he tried to highlight the positives of Djokovic‘s game instead of telling him what he was doing wrong. “(It was) ‘when I was playing against you, you were doing this, it was so hard to play against for these reasons’. I was more like trying to emphasise the positives of when he’s playing well, this is what it looks like and this is what it feels like for the player down the other end,” he explained.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic during the Australian Open 2025 ( Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
“As a player, you never know the speed of your own shot, the speed of your ball, what impact it’s having on the guy down the other end, what are they feeling. If I [had been] able to hear from Novak or [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal when I was playing against them, ‘oh, I hate it when you do this to me or when you hit this shot’, that would have been a huge, huge help to me to know that,” he added.
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Nadal, Williams, Djokovic: The strict umpire who got under the skin of tennis’ biggest stars
Murray and Djokovic will follow their collaboration
According to The Times, the two former rivals are expected to extend their partnership until at least Wimbledon, with the Indian Wells Masters in March likely being their next event together. However, the Serbian will return to the tour at the Qatar Open, an ATP 500 event starting on February 17.
Djokovic had a solid run in the Australian Open, defeating Tomas Machac, Jiri Lehecka, and Carlos Alcaraz before a hamstring injury forced him to retire in his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
