Murray Concedes He Fell Short of the Targeted Outcomes for Djokovic

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

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

In his debut 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 expectation was that it was going to be extremely challenging," Murray said in an interview.

He continued, "Novak, like myself, is a challenging character in terms of the way he approaches his tennis, [it] is incredibly rigorous."

Looking Back at the Experience

In retrospect, Murray conveyed that he is happy he took on the role. "It's an incredible experience that I've had," he observed.

During their time together, Djokovic overcame Carlos Alcaraz to advance to the semi-finals in Melbourne, but was had to pull out with an injury from his match against Alexander Zverev.

Subsequently, upon his return, Djokovic experienced first-round losses in Qatar and at Indian Wells, before falling in 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 definitely 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 learned a lot about what coaching is."

An Intimidating Start and Career Reflections

Murray also disclosed an incident from his first day on the job, when he was invited to join Djokovic on a run. He suffered through calf cramps so as not to fail his fellow former world number one—a moment he described as "embarrassing."

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

Views on the Tennis Schedule

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

Murray, who was affected by injuries in his latter career, had been against increasing the number of two-week ATP 1,000 tournaments, saying the increased time on the road would be detrimental to players.

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

"When you're more tired, you're more vulnerable to pain and discomfort. My belief 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 genuinely an issue."