Steve Johnson questions Djokovic-Murray duo: “I don’t see the Murray partnership paying off"

Former World No. 21 Steve Johnson commented on Novak Djokovic’s early exit from the Madrid Open and how it could impact his partnership with Andy Murray. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was knocked out in his opening match by Matteo Arnaldi and recently withdrew from the Rome Open.

At the end of 2024, Djokovic surprised many by announcing Andy Murray—his former rival who had just retired—as his new coach, aiming to revive his form in 2025. Although Djokovic won the Olympic gold medal this year, he has yet to claim any other titles in the season.

The partnership sparked excitement, but it hasn’t quite taken off. Djokovic suffered an injury in the Australian Open semifinals—forcing him to retire against Alexander Zverev—and since then, he's recorded five wins and five losses, including three consecutive defeats following his runner-up finish in Miami, where he lost to Jakub Mensik.

His clay-court swing has been particularly rough, with back-to-back losses to Alejandro Tabilo and Matteo Arnaldi. The Serb pulled out of Rome just days after his Madrid loss.

Meanwhile, on the Nothing Major Podcast, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson discussed Murray’s future in Djokovic’s team. “The Murray partnership is starting to pay off because of all the anger that Novak is showing in practice,” Johnson said on the Nothing Major Podcast. “The Murray demeanour finally getting into the Novak brain on the practice court!”

“It worked at the beginning of the year in Australia. He has completed the game of tennis. What is there left to win other than a Grand Slam? I think it is just hard for him to get his juices going for these 1000 level tournaments when the only thing that is going to further his legacy is a Slam title.

“So unless we see something different at Roland Garros or Wimbledon in the summer it is hard to see right now and it’s very weird to watch Novak playing tennis because he had an aura of invincibility during the entirety of our careers. It is very strange to watch him lose matches like this consecutively.

“I don’t see the Murray partnership paying off, but it would be a weird time to have them not be together at Wimbledon. They partner all year and then they are not together for Wimby? My assumption is that it goes to Wimby and then I don’t know. It would be weird if he fired him at Queen’s.”

“I think Murray is in the box for Wimby, no doubt,” he concluded.