MELBOURNE, Australia — Andy Murray has said that he and Novak Djokovic will hold talks about whether to extend their partnership beyond the Australian Open.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, brought Murray, a three-time major winner, onto his coaching team ahead of the event, which he exited on Friday with a semifinal retirement against Alexander Zverev.
The arrangement was initially for the Australian Open, with the possibility to extend if that suited both parties. Djokovic has been complimentary about Murray’s impact, which although hard to quantify exactly coincided with the Serb beating Carlos Alcaraz in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, having lost to him in their two most recent Grand Slam meetings.
After Djokovic had to retire because of an upper leg injury at the end of the first set against Zverev on Friday, which he lost 7-6(5), Murray said no decision had been made about his future. “Me and Novak agreed that after the tournament we would speak,” he told a small group of reporters. “We’ll do that.”
When Djokovic was asked about whether he and Murray would continue together, he was similarly noncommittal.
“I don’t know. We both were disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future steps. We are so fresh off the court,” he said in a news conference after losing to Zverev.
“I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me. You know, give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, and see how he feels and we make the next step.
“We are still hotheaded and disappointed, so it’s kind of hard to switch the page and start talking about what the next steps are. I think we both need to cool off a little bit and then we’ll have a chat.”
Murray said he had enjoyed being part of the Djokovic camp, but admitted he had found all the attention on him “embarrassing”. During his matches, the camera would often be trained on Murray for his reactions, and Djokovic was frequently asked to discuss the impact of his new coach.
“I feel like they’ve been a great team,” Murray said of Djokovic and the group around him. “At times it feels a little bit embarrassing that because of my relationship with Novak, how much people talk about that or when there’s a good result or a good performance that it’s because I’ve helped him. I’m fully aware that the team that is with him has done an incredible job over many, many years to allow him to still be competing at this level at the age that he’s at.
“They’ve all been really, really helpful to me. They really welcomed me into the team. It’s been great to be a part of. I got to witness some amazing tennis, and one of the best matches that I’ve seen live against Alcaraz. And it’s a steep learning curve for me as well. Obviously there’s a lot of things that as a player, you know things are different when you’re coaching, there’s a lot more that you need to help with in terms of communication around the team. You’re not just thinking about yourself like you are when you’re a player. I’ve certainly learned a lot but there’s a lot more still for me to learn, that’s for sure.”
Murray had not initially planned to start coaching so soon after his playing career, which ended last August at the Paris Olympics Games. But he felt that working with Djokovic was too good an opportunity to turn down.
Djokovic is unsure of the severity of the injury he suffered this week, but is scheduled to play at the Qatar Open next month. He and Murray will fly home to Europe before deciding on their future together.
(William West/AVP via Getty Images)
