The most surprising part was the timing. Murray only retired from playing four months ago. That time is split between his family and his golf club, but as he told the Control the Controllables podcast last year, if his kids are at school, he’s often bored by Wednesday lunchtime.
The chance to work with Djokovic is unlikely to come again and, after losing four finals in Melbourne to the Serb, he may have thought he would never have a better chance of winning the Australian Open.
Joking aside, there doesn’t seem to be much downside. Djokovic has not currently played any tournaments before the Australian Open, so Murray should be free to enjoy a Christmas holiday at home after working together during the off-season.
Their training sessions in Melbourne will be a box office hit, and it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops and whether Murray can feature in Djokovic’s team at some of the other Grand Slams this year.
“They’ve always gotten along well, but I don’t think their relationship would have been as close as it was when they were younger — or now,” Delgado said of their relationship.
“There is so much at stake. But they really respect each other.
“Andy always praises his (Djokovic) game and how difficult it is to play against him. His respect is very high.”
The last major action in their competitive play was the battle for year-end world number one in 2016.
“When Novak and I talk to each other, we don’t talk about tennis, the rankings, the matches we played against each other,” Murray said earlier that year.
“Maybe when we finish playing, that might change.”
