Did Andy Murray give Novak Djokovic the tactical plan to beat Carlos Alcaraz?

Shortly after Novak Djokovic screamed with joy following his win over Carlos Alcaraz in a thrilling Australian Open quarter-final in January, he raced to share the moment with his new coach Andy Murray.

Djokovic was clearly emotional as he greeted the former rival who had become an unexpected member of his team a couple of weeks earlier, with the masterplan the Serbian used to beat Alcaraz in Melbourne having all the hallmarks of a Murray blueprint.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray was always a master of tactical planning during his magnificent career and he was always a student of the game, relishing the chance to find a way to overcome the odds and defeat his rivals.

He had more success over Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic than any other player and his first foray into coaching suggested his passion to unlock tactical plans that can reap rewards has not dimmed.

The first big test of the Murray-Djokovic coaching relationship came in that match against Alcaraz in Melbourne and the tactics used by the Serbian took away some of the Spaniard’s firepower.

After being unable to fend off the first set barrage from Alcaraz, Djokovic slipped into a revised tactical plan that gave his young rival real trouble.

He took pace off the ball, didn’t give Alcaraz the kind of thumping exchanges he thrives on and the errors started to flow from the Spaniard.

This diluted approach also removed the risk from Djokovic’s game, as he refused to miss and gave Alcaraz just six unforced errors in the final two sets of that match.

By contrast, an increasingly exasperated Alcaraz made 20 unforced errors in those two sets and that huge difference between the duo was a key reason why the veteran beat the young gun, with Murray almost certainly behind that plan to limit mistakes and allow the Spaniard’s frustration to build to breaking point.

“One of the reasons why it doesn’t really matter who’s coaching those guys, providing you’re giving them clear direction, because they’re so great,” said Murray, as he reflected on his first coaching experience on the Sporting Misadventures with Chris Hoy podcast.

“Lots of people can come up with that, anyone who’s got a good tennis knowledge would be able to do that, but not all of their players can execute what you’re asking them to do.

“That was the thing for me with Novak that was amazing. In a couple of the matches, I gave him the strategy that I thought would work and would be beneficial, and the way that he was able to execute that and do exactly what’s being asked because of his technical abilities.

“The way that he strikes the tennis ball, the way that he moves on the court and just has no weaknesses, is [why] they’re able to execute a game plan better than anyone else because they’re so skillful.”

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The challenge for Alcaraz will be how to combat what are essentially negative tactics that worked so effectively against him in Melbourne.

The good news for the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion must be that most opponents will not be able to live with his big hitting from the back of the court, but there is no doubt that he looked uncomfortable against the soft ball approach Djokovic deployed both on his serves and in his ground stroke exchange.

Then when he needed to up the pace and rock an already rattled Alcaraz on to the ropes, Djokovic had the firepower in his armoury to execute that plan.

The most successful male tennis player of all-time spoke in glowing terms about Murray’s contribution to his run to the Australian Open semi-finals, so it was no surprise when the duo confirmed they would continue working together in the upcoming tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami.

“I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept,” said Djokovic of his move to work with Murray once again.

“It’s indefinite in terms of how long we are going to work together but we agreed we are going to work most likely in the States and then some clay-court tournaments and see how it goes after that.”

News that Murray is flying to America to work with Djokovic suggests the 24-time Grand Slam champion is confident that he is fully fit and firing after the injury concerns that have hampered his ambitions in recent weeks.

As he chases his 100th career title, Djokovic believes Murray could be a crucial piece in his winning jigsaw and it will be fascinating to see how the duo combine once again in Indian Wells.

And if a meeting with Alcaraz is on Djokovic’s agenda in America over the next few weeks, Murray will remind his former rival about a tactical plan that has proved to be highly successful on one of the biggest stages of them all a few weeks ago.

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