Djokovic has opened up about his recent coaching split with Andy Murray, shedding light on the decision and offering high praise for his former collaborator. The two tennis legends and friends joined forces earlier this year in what Novak described as a trial-based partnership.
“There is nothing more I can tell you than what you have read in our statements,” said Djokovic as he addressed the media during his pre-tournament press conference at the Gonet Geneva Open. “You know, we did say that we are going to, not commit to that relationship on a very long term.”
“So we agreed that we should part ways as coach and player,” said the former world No. 1. “We felt like we couldn’t get more out of that partnership on the court, and that’s all there is to it. My respect towards Andy remains the same — even more actually, I got to know him as a person and I think he has a brilliant tennis IQ.”
Novak Djokovic went on to say they parted ways amicably and came to the agreement that they had squeezed what they could out of their short stint. The partnership had already come as a surprise to fans and critics, most of them questioning Andy Murray’s credibility as a coach.
“He has a very rare mind of a champion that obviously has achieved what he has achieved, and he sees the game incredibly well,” Djokovic said. “We just, I guess, didn’t, what can I say? We didn’t reach, what we both hoped that we can reach in a relationship, in terms of results, and that’s all there is to it. You know sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t; we gave it a try, and that’s it.”
While it remains doubtful if fans will ever see coach Andy Murray again on a tennis court, Djokovic will be making his presence felt at the Geneva Open, where most of his family members will be in attendance.