Djokovic beat Murray 69 per cent of the time. So why is Murray his new coach?

Novak Djokovic is a 24-time grand slam title winner, Olympic gold medallist and a 99-time ATP competition winner.

So why, at 37 years old, does the best tennis player in the world, and arguably in the history of the sport, need a coach?

Long relationship … Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic when they played doubles together at the Australian Open in 2006.Credit: Getty Images

It was a surprise when Djokovic named long-time rival Andy Murray as his new coach – a player Djokovic had a 69 per cent win record against – and the duo are set to make their debut at the Brisbane International in January before Djokovic heads to the Australian Open to chase his 25th grand slam title.

But former champion-turned-Nine commentator Todd Woodbridge says the pairing isn’t as strange as it seems.

“It’s intriguing. Andy Murray for me is this generation’s Lleyton Hewitt, and Ken Rosewell before him, and I say that because they just live, eat, breathe tennis,” Woodbridge says. “Andy can’t keep away from it.”

Murray retired from professional tennis in 2024 as a three-time grand slam champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist. And while Djokovic had the upper hand in their head-to-head matches, beating Murray 25 of the 36 times they played, Woodbridge says Murray was the same calibre of athlete.

“Andy played everyone that Novak is going to be playing against. So, they’ll be drawing up strategy, game plan, tactics, and what they’ve got to do is find ways for Novak to win matches really quickly, succinctly, keeping energy in the tank, and I think that’s part of the reason he’s been brought along.

“But, you know, there’s one more [reason], which is very obvious, and that’s that Novak has had people around him in his last two coaching roles that have been there, done it... So that’s Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic. It is impossible to hire someone to come in and tell him things, when he’s already done more than they have. And Andy is on a parallel [with] him.

“Yes, he’s [Djokovic] won more majors, but Andy’s won Olympics, he’s won Wimbledon, he’s won the US Open, he’s been to a final and lost to Novak. He’s one player that he’ll respect if Andy calls him out and says, ‘hey, we need to work on this’. And that’s got to be why he’s in the team.”

Novak Djokovic after defeating Carlos Alcaraz for Olympic gold in Paris.Credit: Getty Images

Djokovic had a mixed 2024. He finally won his first Olympic gold in Paris, completing the golden career slam, but it was also the first time since 2017 he didn’t win a grand slam title in a calendar year.

But Woodbridge says Djokovic remains a threat to win his 11th Australian Open title in 2025.

“He [Djokovic] didn’t have the year he wanted, and I think he has come off his level slightly, but the others still have to play at their best and when he’s there, he’s always a threat,” Woodbridge says.

“It really comes down to the physical and mental, maybe more mental...but currently he’s in the top three for me to win the Australian Open – that goes [Jannik] Sinner, [Carlos] Alcaraz and Djokovic.”

Sinner, the reigning Australian Open champion and favourite for the 2025 title, had an intriguing year after he tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March, but was not banned in a decision by an independent tribunal because the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined he was not to blame.

The off-court drama didn’t translate to Sinner’s on-court results, with the Italian winning three Masters 1000 titles and the US Open while the drama played out in the background. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] has since decided to appeal the decision to clear Sinner of wrongdoing, the outcome of which could come to a head in Melbourne.

Jannik Sinner after winning the 2024 Australian Open.Credit: AP

It comes as world No. 2 and French Open champion Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for trimetazidine (TMZ).

However, Woodbridge says he doesn’t think the issue will hinder Sinner as he heads to Australia to start the 2025 season.

“That’s one of the things that I think Jannik Sinner has been extraordinary with,” Woodbridge said. “He’s got a great ability it seems to have had to deal with it for nearly eight months, know about it, talk about it openly, and he seems to have handled it well.

“We’ll just wait and see how Iga handles it when she has to talk about it. She’s a very different personality, so we will see if it does affect her or not.”

Swiatek will front the media for the first time since the positive test at the United Cup in Sydney starting on December 28.

The Australian team will also be playing in Sydney, where Alex de Minaur and Olivia Gadecki will be the top-ranked Australian players.

Alex de Minaur celebrates his win over Novak Djokovic at the 2024 United Cup.Credit: AP

The 2024 United Cup was where de Minaur launched his season – his best year on tour to date – after beating Djokovic and then-world No. 10 Taylor Fritz.

With nine men in the ATP’s top 100 – de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Christopher O’Connell, Aleksandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Thanasi Kokkinakis, James Duckworth and Adam Walton – Woodbridge says Australian tennis is in its best place in years heading into the Australian Open.

“One of the key things for countries in tennis is to have depth...once you get some depth, every other player thinks, well, if that guy or that girl can do that, so can I,” Woodbridge says.

“On the men’s side, our programs have built that depth over the last 15 years, and it’s really, really important. You don’t realise it when you’re in it, but back in my day, in around the 2000s, you had [Pat] Rafter, Hewitt, [Mark] Philippoussis, [Mark] Woodforde.

“It’s 25 years really since we [last] had what we’ve got going right now, and that’s fantastic. And so, we’ve got to ride that wave of success while we can because it does become cyclical, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get that again. But the Australian men are pushing each other to that limit.”