Serbia’s
Novak Djokovic has opened up about his experience of
working with former world number one
Andy Murray as his coach. The 37-year-old
is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the
singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic surprised everyone last year when he announced
Murray as his coach. The news came as a major shock as the Glasgow-born star as
the Glasgow-born tennis star retired from professional tennis last year after
taking part in the Paris Olympics.
Djokovic is currently playing in the
Miami Open, where he cemented
his spot in the quarterfinals after beating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in straight
sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2. Talking after the match, the Belgrade-born
tennis star opened up about how it is to work with a player who defeated him in two
Grand Slam finals. Djokovic stated that it still feels ‘surreal’.
"We shared the same stage, so to say, and were on the
tour for a very long time and know each other for 20-25 years since the junior
days," said Djokovic. "But obviously when you're rivals you don't
interact as much and actually as we were waiting for matches to restart after
the rain today we had a very interesting talk. I've always had tremendous
respect for Andy, as a player, but now even more so as a person. He's such a
nice guy and I'm really grateful he cares about me doing well on the court. It's
still surreal that one of my biggest rivals is my coach, and he's fist-bumping
and jumping around in the box. Sometimes I pinch myself and ask myself 'is this
real? Is this a dream?' but it's great. We're trying to get the most out of
this relationship of player and coach and also to spend some quality time
together. Miami has been good. We were here early, almost a week before the
tournament started. We played some golf, we enjoyed some dinners together and
we're having fun."