Murray Admits He Fell Short of the Desired Results with Djokovic

Andy Murray has revealed that he "probably fell short of the results I would have hoped for" during his brief tenure mentoring his former rival, Novak Djokovic.

Murray, who finalized his playing career at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, joined Djokovic's team last November, but the partnership concluded after only half a year.

In his debut coaching role, the 38-year-old Murray worked with the 24-time Grand Slam champion at the 2025 Australian Open and three other tournaments.

"The role involves coaching not only one of the best tennis players but one of the best athletes of all time, so my expectation was that it was going to be immensely difficult," Murray said in an interview.

He added, "Novak, like myself, is a challenging character in terms of the way he goes about his tennis, [it] is highly intense."

Looking Back at the Period

In retrospect, Murray conveyed that he is glad he took on the role. "It's an amazing experience that I've had," he commented.

During their time together, Djokovic overcame Carlos Alcaraz to make the semi-finals in Melbourne, but was had to pull out injured from his contest against Alexander Zverev.

Following that, upon his return, Djokovic endured first-round losses in Qatar and at Indian Wells, before being defeated in the Miami Open final to Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.

"It was a shame what happened in Australia with the injury, but I watched him play sensational tennis in that tournament," Murray said.

"After the injury, it was certainly a difficult few months for him, but also I think for the team and all of us. I was disheartened. Probably didn't get the results I would have liked for him. But I gained valuable insight about what coaching entails."

A Challenging Start and Playing Reflections

Murray also shared an incident from his first day on the job, when he was invited to join Djokovic on a run. He endured calf cramps so as not to fail his fellow former world number one—a moment he called "awkward."

Reflecting on his own stellar playing career, Murray reflected he "should have taken more breaks" to savour his successes, including after his two Olympic gold medals.

Views on the Tennis Schedule

The conversation turned to the current tennis calendar, a topic of debate among top players.

Murray, who was affected by injuries in his later years, had been against increasing the number of two-week ATP 1,000 tournaments, saying the increased time on the road would harm players.

"I don't think there's anything that shows players are getting injured more than before. But I do think players are more fatigued and mentally more fatigued than they were before because they're spending more days away on the road," Murray explained.

"When you're more tired, you're more sensitive to pain and discomfort. My view is that's what players are sensing now, just being away for longer.

"I don't think the matches are so much more taxing than they were 10, 15 years ago. But it's the amount of time that players are away on the road that's actually an issue."