Andy Murray’s wife’s thoughts on him coaching Novak Djokovic just months after retiring

has revealed messaged him about becoming his new coach when the Scot was playing golf last September.

And the Scot said he had just told his playing partner: ‘Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now’.

Now the two Grand Slam champions will make a “more definite decision” about working together in the future after their “trial” at the .

Murray was on court with Djokovic’s team as the Serbian superstar hit for an hour on the Rod Laver Arena with Arthur Fils in Melbourne today.

Later the five-time finalist spoke to the British media for the first time about November’s shock announcement that the two great rivals would team up together Down under.

Murray, who got his golf handicap down to three since retiring from tennis at the Paris Olympics, said: “So I was actually playing golf, and we’d actually been exchanging messages. Novak had messaged me, just wanting to chat. It was just before Shanghai, and we’d exchanged messages and missed calls and stuff.

“Then eventually, I was on the 17th hole of the golf course, and the guy I was playing with said to me, ‘Do you know what’s next?’. I was like, ‘No, not really’. He said ‘Do you have any plans to do any coaching?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now’.

“And then 30 minutes later, I was in the car and I called Novak, and then we had a conversation, and he asked if I would be interested in helping, which I obviously wasn’t expecting. I said to him: ‘Look, I need to think about it and talk to my family.’

“So I spoke to them, and after a couple of days, I thought that it was a pretty unique opportunity and experience. And I thought it would be a good idea to try it together, and spend some time in the off-season through Australia and see how it goes for both of us, because it’s a little bit different.

“It’s not the usual kind of set-up. So it made sense to trial it and see if it works. And then we said we’d make a more definitive decision after the tournament.”

Murray, who missed Djokovic’s warm-up event in Brisbane because he took his family skiing, added: “My wife (Kim) was very supportive of it. I was actually going to be in Australia anyway for a few days during the tournament. She was surprised, obviously, that he’d asked me, but she was really supportive of it.

“Maybe if it was a younger player, where it was maybe long term, [you] might be looking at five, six years potentially. I’m not sure that that’s necessarily the case with Novak, but you never know if he’s doing well! But she was very supportive.”

Djokovic, who will turn 38 in May, is bidding to win his 11th title and a record 25th Grand Slam singles title.

He would be the oldest Major winner in Open history. Aussie Ken Rosewall holds the record after he won the 1972 aged 37 and two months. Djokovic won the Olympics last year but did not win an ATP Tour title for the first time since 2005.

No.7 seed Djokovic will face American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round – and could face Reilly Opelka in the third round. The 6’11” American

Djokovic is in the same section of the draw as with the two Olympic finalists scheduled to meet in the last eight.

Murray had other requests to coach players before accepting Djokovic’s invitation – and John McEnroe has claimed the Scot will be in even higher demand if the 10-time champion does well in Melbourne.

“Especially if Djokovic wins Australia, then (it) would be like, ‘Wow, this is incredible,’” McEnroe told ESPN. “I’m sure he’d be flooded with coaching requests, or maybe they’d stick with it for the rest of the year.

“And if it doesn’t work out and say Djokovic loses in the quarters or semis, and then they decide not to continue, would Murray want to coach someone else? That would be the questions I would have.”