Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic announced Saturday that a former on-court rival, retired Brit Andy Murray, is joining his side as coach.
Murray retired from tennis following the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Djokovic won the gold in men’s singles. Murray captured two gold medals in singles and three Grand Slam events. Djokovic has 24 Grand Slam titles.
“We played each other since we were boys, 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits. We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. … I thought our story may be over. Turns out, it has one final chapter — it’s time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner. Welcome aboard, coach Andy Murray,” Djokovic said in a video he posted on X.
He captioned his post by saying that Murray “never liked retirement anyway,” a callback to Murray’s post on Aug. 1 following his elimination in the doubles quarterfinals in the Olympics where he wrote that he “never even liked tennis anyway.”
Murray will coach Djokovic to prepare for the upcoming season and at least through the Australian Open in the last half of January. After that, the pair will discuss possibly working together the rest of the 2025 season, per a release on Djokovic’s website.
Djokovic fired his previous coach of six years, former Croatian tennis player Goran Ivanisevic, in March.
Djokovic is aiming for his 11th Australian Open title.
Wimbledon and the third round of the US Open.
Murray reached the Aussie final five times, including losing to Djokovic in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
“I’ll be joining Novak’s team during the preparation period, helping him get in the best possible shape for the Australian Open. I’m very excited about it and I am looking forward to being on the same side of the net for a change. I’m also grateful for the opportunity to assist him in achieving his goals for the coming year,” Murray said in a statement.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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