Novak Djokovic sending 'strong message' to Sinner and Alcaraz with Murray hire says Mats Wilander
ATP
Novak Djokovic is sending a strong message to his rivals with the hire of Andy Murray as his coach says Mats Wilander despite the relative inexperience of course as a coach that the Brit has.
Wilander spoke to Eurosport at length after the hire and discussed what Murray can bring him that perhaps hasn't been thought of as well as showcasing that Djokovic still very much has the desire to still lurk at the top of the game.
It was a torrid 2024 at times for Djokovic in comparison to being a winner in previous seasons. He didn't win any Grand Slams albeit he did achieve a career long goal of winning the Olympic gold medal.
"My first reaction was that Novak Djokovic wants to win more Grand Slam tournaments," Wilander told Eurosport.
"Obviously to all of us that are tennis fans, we would love to see him win 25 Grand Slam titles and be considered the best of all time. So with Andy Murray helping him, I say that he thinks he can still win Grand Slam tournaments in 2025, and maybe even 2026."
"I think the message that Novak is sending is that he still thinks that he has some of his best tennis still in him, or he thinks that his best tennis is still ahead of him," Wilander said. "It's a strong [message] towards Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and the best players in the world."
"What Andy can do is he can tell Novak things that maybe Novak already knows, but Andy has played against all these players that Novak will face and Andy has seen them, he's practised with them. He has talked to the likes of Jannik Sinner, to Carlos Alcaraz, to [Daniil] Medvedev, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Alexander] Zverev.
"He will not have secrets, but he will have other opinions about these guys' games. I think there's a lot of small details that Andy Murray will know that maybe Novak doesn't think about.
"I think the big picture is going to be very similar. Andy has won three Grand Slam titles, a couple of Olympic gold medals, he's won the Davis Cup. So the big picture, they both have the exact same idea about.
"How do you prepare for a Grand Slam? How important are the tournaments on the ATP tour? And then how do you play five-set matches depending on, is it the first round? Is it the quarter-finals? Is Novak tired from the match before? Do we play quick points? Do we play long points? How strong is my opponent over five hours?
"There are a lot of things that Novak Djokovic will know, but that maybe he doesn't think about in that specific match."
From rivals to colleagues...
He believes that it could be genius from Djokovic detailing what his former rival brings.
"I think it's an excellent move, Andy Murray is going to be an excellent coach," Wilander added. "He understands how hard you have to work. He understands how hard you can work, physically, and still be in top shape physically on the court. I think he understands how to play your best tennis when you really need to.
"We always talk about peaking and Andy knows how to peak because if you win Olympic gold two times, and you win Wimbledon two times, and you are from Great Britain, you understand how to be your best at the most crucial time."
"Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic both had the same kind of behaviour towards their coaching box, it looked like it was a little bit of complaining, or it could have just been explaining what they're feeling.
"So it'll be interesting to see how Andy Murray will react when Novak Djokovic looks up at his coaching box and sort of throws his arms out and says something like, 'What am I supposed to do now? How come my forehand is not working better? What can you tell me?'
"Because both of them sometimes looked like they were asking for help or advice from their coaching boxes. And I think that's going to be one of the most entertaining or one of the most interesting relationships that we're going to have between a player and a coach."
Novak Djokovic 🤝 Andy Murray pic.twitter.com/ZugTM1bGPn
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 23, 2024
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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