Novak Djokovic will have a ‘unique advantage’ after appointing ‘fiery character’ Andy Murray as coach

Andy Murray will bring fireworks to Novak Djokovic’s coaching box with tennis analyst Gill Gross saying the three-time Grand Slam winner’s appointment is a “bit of a leg up” for Djokovic.

Djokovic caused quite a stir in the tennis world this weekend as he announced that his former rival Murray would coach him during the off-season and at the start of the 2025 campaign.

The move came after Djokovic spent the bulk of the 2024 campaign without a permanent head coach as he parted company with Goran Ivanisevic in March following six successful years.

Murray, meanwhile, returns to tennis just a few months after he retired from the game this year.

Gross, a Tennis Channel commentator welcomed the “blockbuster” announcement, stating on the Gill Gross YouTube channel: “Holy cow! In all my years following tennis covering tennis, I don’t think there’s ever been coaching news that is so blockbuster, so shocking.

“Heading into 2025 Novak Djokovic’s next coach will be one Andy Murray. The three-time major champion, the former world No 1, the two-time Olympic gold medalist.

“A man who Novak has battled 36 times in his career will now be joining him in his coaching box, only about six months removed from retirement. We have seen super coaches before we saw [Boris] Becker come in, we saw [Ivan] Lendl come, we saw [Stefan] Edberg come in. Some great players have decided to become coaches all of them were a decade or more off of playing.”

The fact that Murray is a fiery character will aid the partnership as he won’t be afraid to share his opinion while his analytical skills will also come in very handy.

Gross added: “First of all Murray is a guy who whose qualities have been very evident as a player. He is highly opinionated, highly analytical, because of those things he was known as a notoriously difficult player to coach because coaches would come in and they would have certain opinions and often Andy would have his own opinion.

“I think that led to a lot of coaching relationships where it was difficult for coaches to break through and kind of shape Andy in the way that they might have wanted to because Murray was so strong-headed and had such strong opinions about his own game and what he should have been doing that it was difficult for a coach to actually break through.

“That’s the kind of tennis mind we’re talking about here we’re talking about a tennis mind who has a lot of thoughts and a lot of convictions and that in itself I think is a great quality for a coach.

“You want someone who is going to see the game in a way that creates a lot of ideas and opinions because that is going to produce the spark for what will ultimately become coaching.”

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With Murray being “fresh off the tour” it will give Djokovic a big advantage as the two-time Wimbledon winner will have experience of planning and playing against the Serbian’s opponents.

After nearly two decades on the ATP Tour during which he became world No 1 and won 46 singles titles – including three Grand Slams and two Olympic gold medals – Murray retired after the Paris Games with his last match coming in August.

“He has also studied all of these players. The fact that he is so fresh off the tour I do believe gives him a pretty unique advantage,” Gross continued.

“He’s played these guys and that certainly helps that he’s experienced a lot of Novak Djokovic’s 2025 opponents Andy Murray will have played and in some cases will have played recently and therefore will have gone about the process of getting ready to play them and creating a game plan for them.

“It’s not going to be copy and paste obviously to Novak because Djokovic is a different player but just to have already put his mind through those paces will have given him a head start so I believe that’s a that’s a really interesting angle here where Murray being so fresh off the tour is going to give him a bit of a leg up.

“I think for Djokovic specifically, and this is really important, his next coach needed to fit in a specific box there needed to be a specific existing relationship already there.”

There was a big reason why Djokovic didn’t want to go for a younger coach and Gross added: “He and Andy Murray have a very special one of course. As rivals but going way back they knew each other as juniors so they have that special connection there will immediately be buy-in.

“There will immediately be respect. Andy doesn’t need to prove to Novak that he is a tennis mind worthy of the position he is now entering.

“A younger coach, a less established coach, a more unfamiliar coach to Novak there may have been a feeling out process. There may have needed to be a building of trust and respect.

“Andy and Novak should be able to hit the ground running here that’s really important. And for Murray the same thing not only does his stature give you immediate buy-in from Novak or provide immediate buy-in from Novak.

“It also means that he’s not going to have so much reverence for Novak Djokovic and there will be some I’m sure, naturally and there should be, but there’s not going to be so much reverence in that relationship that Andy is going to be scared to share his opinion.

Being Djokovic’s mentor will be Murray’s first foray into coaching, but he won’t be “scared” to share his opinion.

Gross said: “I just think joining Djokovic’s coaching team in 2025 that is scary, that’s a scary position to come into. Andy Murray is not going to be scared. Not with his stature, not with his convictions as a tennis mind so no time to build a relationship no room for experimentation.”

“I know it might feel like an experiment but in a lot of ways it’s not. Novak knows what he’s going to be getting from Andy so it checks that box.

“We’ve had conversations in the last you know several months about what Novak might need in a coach and other than that pre-existing relationship that carries immediate trust and respect, which I think was a requirement.

“The other thing in terms of is this going to be effective, to me it’s it comes down to Novak Djokovic at this stage in his career having accomplished everything he’s ever set out to accomplish needing a spark.

“Andy Murray coming into the coaching box is more than a spark. It is fireworks that’s what this is. It is fun, it is new it is exciting it is attention-grabbing and I think that energy that excitement a partnership that is going to raise some eyebrows at least in that initial period should be able to provide Novak some spark

“We also know that Andy is a fiery character himself one of the toughest competitors we’ve ever seen grace the tennis court so this is a a shot in the arm for Novak that I think is needed.”