Novak Djokovic hired Andy Murray as his new coach for the off-season (Image: Getty)
’s decision to become ’s coach rocked the tennis world. The Brit only retired four months ago and is now
Even one of Murray’s ex-coaches, Mark Petchey, was “surprised” by the news.
And Petchey has now had his say on the link-up, rubbishing some “bulls***” claims.
Djokovic had been without a coach since he parted ways with Goran Ivanisevic in March, ending their five-year partnership. He worked with some temporary mentors during the clay season but largely travelled with his hitting partner, Carlos Gomez-Herrera.
At the end of November, the 24-time Grand Slam champion finally found a new voice to add to his camp, asking his former rival Murray to coach him during the off-season and into the Australian Open.
It’s an unprecedented move – the pair have battled on the sport’s biggest stages, playing for Major titles and the No. 1 ranking. They are the same age and have been facing off since their junior days.
But they will now be in the same corner for the first time. Djokovic’s decision to hire Murray caused a stir, with some questioning whether it was a last-ditch move to have some fun with a friend as he nears retirement.
However, Petchey – who coached Murray earlier in his career – has now rubbished the retirement talk and claimed the Brit wouldn’t work with Djokovic if he wasn’t aiming high.
Andy Murray’s ex-coach Mark Petchey was surprised to see the Brit become Djokovic’s mentor (Image: Getty)
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“Knowing Andy as well as I do, there’s no question that he will already be going through Novak’s matches from this year with a fine tooth comb, the battles that he’s had with Carlos and Jannik and what’s worked but what hasn’t worked,” Petchey told .
“I’ve seen people say this is Novak at the end of his career kind of winding down potentially by hiring a mate. That’s absolute . Andy is not wired that way. He wouldn’t let me beat him in a video game.
“He will not go into Australia with Novak if it isn’t to win another Australian Open, his 25th Major and a record 11th Australian Open.”
While the 54-year-old believes Murray is taking his new role seriously, he warned the three-time Grand Slam champion that nothing would compare to the rush of competing himself.
Petchey continued: “This is a great challenge for Andy. This for most of these great champions is a period of going into the void, trying to figure out how he can find some value in his life. It’s very tough for a lot of these great champions to do that.
“They can never recreate what they had, never relive those emotions that he would have had on Centre Court or at Flushing Meadows, or in the Davis Cup.”
Like the rest of the tennis world, the British coach and pundit is excited to see how Murray gets on in his new role.
“I’ve said it a few times that Andy would go into coaching but I didn’t think in my wildest dreams it would be quite as quickly as this and with Novak,” Petchey added.
“I think it’s awesome for tennis and I think it’s great for both of them in terms of the passion that they bring to the sport and the knowledge that they have. It’s going to be fascinating for all of us sitting on the sidelines to see how this partnership is going to work.
“Sitting here outside the ring looking in at those two, I think it’s going to be a great thing for tennis. It’s already created huge headlines and I think it will create a huge buzz down in Australia.”