By Tony Fairbairn
- Andy Murray admitted he has a lot to learn after coaching Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Andy Murray has admitted he has a lot to learn as a coach after coaching Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
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It was a first coaching experience for Andy Murray as he coached Novak Djokovic to the semi-finals in Melbourne.
After overcoming a tough first couple of rounds, Djokovic cruised into the quarter-finals where the Serb would meet Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight.
That would be the most memorable match of the run in Melbourne as Djokovic overcame a hamstring injury to win that match in four sets.
It would be a big celebration as Djokovic embraced the Brit after the match in a passionate reaction to the victory.
Speaking about the celebration Murray described it as a ‘cool moment’ between two people who grew up on the tour and continue to be best friends.
“It was a cool moment,” Murray told The Guardian.
“Everyone was pretty pumped after the match and considering how he was feeling. But then the way he played, it was unreal tennis. Incredible performance. I was surprised when he came over because we’d sort of celebrated after the match point.
“But he was just pumped with the win and how he played and that he’d come through. It was a nice moment.”
After two days rest, Djokovic was hoping that he would be fully healed for his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
However after an 82 minute opening set which Djokovic lost 7-6(5), the Serb withdrew from the contest before announcing on social media that he suffered a significant hamstring tear.
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Murray admits a lot to learn with Djokovic future uncertain
After accepting Djokovic’s phone call to coach him at the Australian Open, it was a successful first attempt at the job for the Brit.
Analysing his new role, Murray admitted it was a lot different than he had imagined it and there are some aspects that he needs to improve on.
“I always knew I would enjoy coaching. I never thought otherwise, but there’s things I’ve learned that was maybe a bit different than what I expected,” Murray stated to The Guardian.
“There’s certainly areas I will need to get better at, for example, the technical side of the game. As a player, I would understand the basics, but not extremely well like some very experienced coaches. Some of the guys I’ve worked with over the years have been very strong in that area.
“The ex-players generally would be quite good with strategy and understanding the psychology and stuff having played. But there’s lots of other areas to coaching I need to learn about. There’s certain things I’ve really enjoyed about it.”
There’s often the saying that watching is more nerve-wracking than actually playing as has often been claimed by other ex-players that have turned to coaching.
However, Murray would disagree with the statement as he said that playing was way harder as he described his experience of watching the 24-time Grand Slam champion in action.
“It’s definitely harder playing, that’s for sure. I would dispute people that say it’s harder watching from the sides. I know how stressful it can be out there,” Murray explained to The Guardian.
“I felt a lot of nerves in the buildup to the matches, but when I was watching it I felt like I was able to switch that off. I felt calm at the side and was watching trying to do my job at times. At the end of the match with Alcaraz or important moments, you feel the nerves and things, but not to the same extent when you’re playing.”
Next for Murray and Djokovic is to make a decision on their future as to whether Murray will remain the coach for the Serb.
Their time at the Australian Open was only for a trial period and now they will decide on the future once Djokovic’s injury has healed up.
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