‘Bu***hit!’ – Top analyst dismisses Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray suggestion
Mark Petchy says it is b****hit to suggest that Novak Djokovic hiring Andy Murray is a sign that the Serbian is ‘winding down’ his career.
Murray shocked the tennis world by joining Djokovic’s coaching team for 2025, starting with the Australian Open.
Djokovic himself says having a coach who knows the pressures he is facing at the top of the game is the thinking behind the move, although few expected Murray to start his post-playing career by coaching one of his biggest rivals.
However, the two were always big friends off the court despite their ferocious battles on it, and Petchy, who coached Murray during the Brit’s early career, says there is a lot more too this story than just two friends linking up for a laugh.
“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 [Alcaraz] and Jannik [Sinner] and what’s worked but what hasn’t worked,” Petchy told Betway.
“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 bullshit. Andy is not wired that way. He wouldn’t let me beat him in a video game.
He never liked retirement anyway. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ga4UlV2kQW
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) November 23, 2024
“He will not go into Australia with Djokovic if it isn’t to win another Australian Open, his 25th Major and a record 11th Australian Open.”
What Murray would do after playing has always been the subject of strong speculation. Many thought he would enter the media, while others suggested he would coach a rising British star like Jack Draper or Emma Raducanu.
Petchy, though, believes Murray is following the blueprint of another of his former coaches – Ivan Lendl.
“This is a great challenge for Andy,” he said. “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.
“Some former players, like Ivan Lendl, have found solace in golf and there are a lot of similarities in Ivan’s career and the way that Andy is probably going to be in his retirement.
“Ivan has obviously been the greatest influence on Andy’s career and there’s a blueprint there for Andy as he goes through the rest of his life.”
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