Andy Murray reflects on ‘demanding’ coaching experience at the Australian Open as he oversaw Novak Djokovic’s progress in Melbourne.
It was the first time seeing coach Murray in action as the three-time Grand Slam champion coached Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
An incredible experience for the Brit as Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz on his way to the semi-finals in Melbourne.
However the tournament ended in heartbreak as Djokovic was forced to retire from his last four encounter with Alexander Zverev.
Speaking on the experience Murray said that he enjoyed it but admitted he found the job very demanding, “I enjoyed certain parts of it,” Murray told the ATP website.
“I enjoyed the matches. I liked sitting at the side watching matches from a different perspective. I enjoyed the analysis, and preparing and planning, the strategy and everything. I really liked that, but I also found it very demanding.
“I’m obviously very inexperienced as a coach, so there’s lots of things that when you’re a player, you don’t realise that coaches are thinking about and having to do. I’m a poor communicator, something I’ve always struggled with, but then when you’re part of a team and you’re kind of leading the team, it’s really important that you are communicating well with people and giving them clear direction.
“I think I did an okay job with that, but I found it hard, I found that very demanding.”
It was a huge learning curve for Murray who had a successful trial with Djokovic and will now continue the partnership until Wimbledon.
Ahead of their future partnership Murray spoke about the tiring aspect of the job and the perspective he has on Djokovic’s game, “I also did a pretty bad job of [spending] way too much time in my room just watching videos of tennis and almost over analysing matches, over preparing a little bit,” Murray explained.
“So I found myself getting quite tired and I did a better job towards the end of the tournament with that. I was like, look, this is too much, give yourself a break, get to the gym, go for a walk, go hit a few golf balls. It was a good experience that I learned a lot from, but I found it hard, found it demanding.
“There are certain things in coaching that I obviously have limited experience with and stuff that I clearly would have to learn and improve. But I do think it’s sort of a unique perspective that I have on Novak’s game that I’m able to make up for some of those weaknesses and flaws that I would have because I’ve competed against him in the biggest matches on the biggest stages over a 10, 12 year period.
“I’ve studied his game a lot, but also experienced what it was like to play against him and practice with him.”
Djokovic will compete in Doha next week but without Murray by his side as he will be with Fernando Verdasco next week for the event.
