7 ATP No 1 player-coach pairings: Ft Boris Becker-Novak Djokovic, Ivan Lendl-Andy Murray, Carlos Moya-Rafael Nadal
Not all great players turn into great coaches, but a fair few ATP world No 1s have had some decent stints coaching fellow big-name players.
Andy Murray is the latest former No 1s to form a high-profile coaching relationship with another former world No 1 in Novak Djokovic.
But the two greats will hope they have similar success to the Boris Becker-Novak Djokovic pairing instead of the Andre Agassi-Novak Djokovic collaboration.
7 ATP No 1 player-coach partnerships:
Jimmy Connors and Andy Roddick
Jimmy Connors spent 268 weeks at No 1 in the 70s and 80s while Andy Roddick was No 1 for 13 weeks from November 2003 until February 2004.
The pair would team up after Wimbledon in 2006 and Roddick reached the fourth of his five Grand Slam finals at the US Open a few months later. He lost in four sets against Roger Federer.
They worked together until early 2008 when Connors resigned to spend more time with his family.
Ivan Lendl and Andy Murray
The pair had three different stints together with the first coming from 2011 until 2014 and during that time Murray won his maiden Grand Slam, the 2012 US Open, as well as Wimbledon and gold at the London Olympics.
After leaving the Murray camp in March 2014, Lendl returned in June 2016 and not long after Murray won his second Wimbledon title with the Brit also going on to become world No 1 later in the year.
Lendl had another stint from 2002 until 2023, but that one was not as successful as the previous two.
Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic
Supercoaches were in fashion just over a decade ago as Novak Djokovic turned to former world No 1 Boris Becker ahead of the 2014 tennis season.
They worked together for three seasons and during that time Djokovic won six Grand Slam, including his first-ever title at Roland Garros in 2016.
The Serbian also lifted 14 ATP Masters 1000 trophies and spent several months at No 1 in the rankings.
Stefan Edberg and Roger Federer
Just weeks after Becker and Djokovic teamed up, it was announced that Stefan Edberg would work with Roger Federer.
By that stage, Federer had already won 17 of his 20 Grand Slam titles and he didn’t add another major to his tally during the partnership.
The pair won three ATP Masters titles before they called time on the relationship in December 2015
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Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic
After splitting with long-time coach Marián Vajda, Djokovic turned to fellow former world No 1 Andre Agassi in May 2017, but it was a stormy relationship as the Serbian struggled with injury, forcing him to miss the bulk of the second half of the season.
In March 2018 they went their separate ways with Agassi stating: “With only the best intentions I tried to help Novak. We far too often found ourselves agreeing to disagree. I wish him only the best moving forward.”
Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal
Carlos Moya spent two weeks at No 1 while Rafael Nadal topped the rankings for 209 weeks.
Nadal had a very successful partnership with his uncle Toni Nadal, but in December 2016 he decided to add Moya to his coaching set-up as he wanted to change up his tactics.
Moya, who took over as head coach when Toni left in 2017, was part of the team that won eight Grand Slams and he was there at the end when Nadal retired in 2024.
Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Alcaraz
Another all-Spanish combination saw 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero team up with a 15-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in 2018.
He oversaw Alcaraz’s rise to the top of the ATP Rankings with the Spaniard becoming the youngest-ever world No 1 in 2022.
Alcaraz has already won four Grand Slams and five ATP Masters 1000 titles.
