Novak Djokovic gets 'unique advantage' with Andy Murray as coach, claims tennis analyst

Tennis analyst Gill Gross believes that hiring someone like Andy Murray as a coach will give Serbia’s Novak Djokovic a ‘unique advantage’ in next year’s Australian Open. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic has gone through a mixed campaign. The Belgrade-born star completed his trophy cabinet as he finally won an Olympic gold medal for his country. However, that was his only big achievement this year. It was the first time in seven years that Djokovic finished the season without a Grand Slam title. Those performances led the former world number one to part ways with his former coach Goran Ivanisevic.

Recently, Djokovic, in a post on his official account on social media platforms, announced that he has hired his former rival Andy Murray as his coach ahead of next year’s Australian Open. The 37-year-old, who is regarded as the greatest British player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, has recently retired from the sport after the Paris Olympics because of fitness concerns.

That news sparked debate about whether hiring someone like Murray, who remained his opponent for the majority of his career, so soon after retirement, is the right call by Djokovic after a rather disappointing season according to his own high standards. However, tennis analyst Gross has backed the Serbian tennis star’s judgement while hiring Murray. Gross was recently quoted in a report that highlighted that having someone like the Glasgow-born star will give Djokovic a ‘unique advantage’ going into the first Grand Slam of 2024.

“Heading into 2025 Novak Djokovic’s next coach will be one Andy Murray,” he said. “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. 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. 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."