Andy Murray will coach Novak Djokovic during the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
Andy Murray has been tipped to spend the whole year coaching Novak Djokovic after joining the world No. 7’s team.
The Brit only retired over the summer, and he’s already returning to the tennis tour as Djokovic’s mentor as they get set to try out their partnership during the off-season and Australian Open.
Fellow retired player-turned-coach Jeremy Chardy has now had his say on their link-up, telling Express Sport that Murray would stay on for the full season while debating whether both men would “have a fight”.
Murray and Djokovic dropped the very unexpected news a few weeks ago, confirming that the Brit would begin coaching arguably his greatest rival ahead of the 2025 season. The world No. 7 had been without a coach since parting ways with Goran Ivanisevic in March.
Announcing the news, Djokovic remarked: “I am excited to have one of my greatest rivals on the same side of the net, as my coach.” Murray, who only retired at the Olympics at the beginning of August, said he was “really excited” to help Djokovic achieve his goals.
The news got everyone talking, with John McEnroe joking that Murray was trying to take a “break from his kids” while Carlos Alcaraz said their partnership was “incredible for tennis”.
Chardy, a former world No. 25 who also went into coaching when he retired, has now given his verdict on their partnership, telling Express Sport that things won’t change overnight.
“For me, they will go for the full year on the big tournaments and if it’s going well they will continue,” the Frenchman said.
When you’re an athlete, you know that nothing is magical so it’s not because Andy is coming that it’s going to change everything but we need six months to start to see improvement and to be able to do some work.
“It’s not magical, it’s a process, you need to believe in the process, believe in the direction you are taking. If they have decided to work together, it means they believe they can do something really good together.”
Chardy, who coaches world No. 14 Ugo Humbert, also thinks both men will be taking their roles “very seriously” – and will likely be in it for longer than planned.
“I’m not really surprised because I think the only goal of Djokovic is to win another Grand Slam and I think Andy is one of the best in tactics and I think he took him to try to find a way to win against the best player like [Jannik] Sinner, [Carlos] Alcaraz and to work on that,” he continued.
“It’s very serious. [Novak] not here to have fun. He will play less tournaments because he starts to get older, physically it will be more difficult for him, but I’m sure he’s going to prepare to be at the peak at every Grand Slam and if he has Andy in his team, he’s 100 per cent sure he will help him.
