Andy Murray has no problem if Novak Djokovic needs to’vent towards his staff’ during his 2025 Australian Open matches.
Djokovic surprised tennis fans in November when he announced that Murray, his old Big Four opponent, had joined his coaching team on a short-term basis. Murray entered retirement in August and is assisting to coach Djokovic for the first big event of the year in Melbourne, which begins Sunday.
Djokovic, who will be under intense pressure to win a historic 25th Grand Slam singles title, has a history of aggressive outbursts at the competition, particularly towards his own squad.
Murray does not mind if that trend continues into 2025, though, as he told reporters: ‘Of course, I’ve thought about it.
‘I would imagine that I’d be one of the ones who could maybe understand that side of things. ‘I know it’s not easy out there, and it’s stressful, and he’ll want to rant at times about his team and his box.
‘Provided he’s putting his best effort and working as hard as he can, I’m completely happy with him expressing himself in whichever way he wants.
Murray was also known for occasional outbursts during his playing career, and he does not want Djokovic to feel compelled to suppress himself or change his behavior simply because the Brit has joined the Serbian team.
‘I’ve had experiences like that as a player and have observed other players,’ Murray remarked.
‘The players are often described as looking rather flat in those instances. And it is not what you desire. ‘Obviously, there is a balance, and as I previously stated, as long as he is putting his best effort and doing his hardest, I am completely supportive of all of that.
I don’t want anything different.’ While Murray’s mentoring of Djokovic is just temporary for the time being, if things go well in Melbourne, it may become a permanent job.
Murray has accompanied Djokovic on-court during his training sessions this week, while they previously spent 10 days working together in Marbella.
‘It made sense to trial it and see if it works,’ Murray said. ‘And then we said we’d make a more definitive decision after the tournament.
‘At times it’s very enjoyable. But high performance is not supposed to be like laughs and jokes and messing around. It isn’t about that. In all the times I’ve been on tour, I haven’t seen that from any of the best players in the world.
‘I’ve seen it from some of the lower-ranked players, and that’s one of the reasons why they’re not there. The best players take it seriously and they want to improve, and it’s not always easy.
‘It’s demanding, but it’s extremely rewarding when you make a breakthrough in a practice and something starts to feel a little bit better. That’s exciting.
‘Obviously I expect when the matches start, the tournament starts, it is stressful. When you’re trying to achieve great things, it’s not easy. But the rewards at the end of it can be great. And that’s something that I’m looking forward [to].’
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