Murray Concedes He Fell Short of the Targeted Results with Djokovic

Andy Murray has revealed that he "probably failed to achieve the results I would have hoped for" during his brief tenure coaching his former rival, Novak Djokovic.

Murray, who finalized his illustrious career at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, joined Djokovic's coaching setup last November, but the arrangement ended after only half a year.

In his first-ever coaching role, the 38-year-old Murray teamed up with the 24-time Grand Slam champion at the 2025 Australian Open and several additional tournaments.

"The role involves coaching not only one of the best tennis players but one of the best athletes of all time, so my anticipation was that it was going to be immensely difficult," Murray noted in an interview.

He went on to say, "Novak, like myself, is a demanding individual in terms of the way he goes about his tennis, [it] is incredibly rigorous."

Looking Back at the Stint

In retrospect, Murray expressed that he is happy he accepted the role. "It's an amazing experience that I've had," he observed.

During their time together, Djokovic overcame Carlos Alcaraz to make the semi-finals in Melbourne, but was compelled to withdraw with an injury from his contest against Alexander Zverev.

Following that, upon his return, Djokovic experienced first-round losses in Qatar and at Indian Wells, before losing the Miami Open final to Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.

"It was a shame what happened in Australia with the injury, but I watched him play sensational tennis in that tournament," Murray recalled.

"After the injury, it was certainly a difficult few months for him, but also I think for the team and all of us. I was disheartened. Probably didn't get the results I would have liked for him. But I gained valuable insight about what coaching involves."

A Challenging Start and Career Reflections

Murray also shared an incident from his first day on the job, when he was told to join Djokovic on a run. He experienced calf cramps so as not to fail his fellow former world number one—a moment he labeled "humiliating."

Reflecting on his own stellar playing career, Murray admitted he "could have taken more breaks" to savour his successes, including after his two Olympic triumphs.

Opinion About the Tennis Tour

The conversation moved onto the modern tennis calendar, a topic of concern among top players.

Murray, who was affected by injuries in his latter career, had voted against increasing the number of two-week ATP 1,000 tournaments, arguing the increased time on the road would negatively impact players.

"I don't think there's anything that shows players are getting injured more than before. But I do think players are more fatigued and psychologically drained than they were before because they're spending more days away on the road," Murray explained.

"When you're more exhausted, you're more vulnerable to pain and discomfort. My feeling is that's what players are experiencing now, just being away for longer.

"I don't think the matches are so much more grueling than they were 10, 15 years ago. But it's the volume of time that players are away on the road that's truly an issue."