"Still a shock decision": Djokovic reveals how Andy Murray joined his team

Novak Djokovic spoke for the first time about his new partnership with Andy Murray, which he described as the "perfect coach" for him. The 24-time Grand Slam champion announced his collaboration with one of his historic rivals a few days ago through an Instagram post.

However, until now, there had been no comments from the Serbian player, who was interviewed by Sky Sports and revealed how the call to the Brit came about to join his team. "I was thinking about different people, and then an Andy Murray discussion appeared on the table with me and my team."

"It was still a shock decision. It caught him a little bit off guard as well because he wasn't expecting it, so we connected really fast and he accepted after a few days," Djokovic said. "I couldn't be more excited about it. This collaboration is a surprise to me as well, to everyone. But it's exciting for tennis. He's been one of my greatest rivals. We're the same age. We've played in all the biggest stadiums in our sport. So I can't wait to get out on the court and prepare for next season."

On the other hand, the 37-year-old player said he has no plans to follow in the footsteps of his rivals Murray or Nadal, as he does not see retirement on the horizon just yet. "We all know that we all have to stop and say goodbye at some point to what we've done all of our lives," he said. "[With] Andy and Rafa [Nadal], we knew that the end was coming. But both of them saying farewell to tennis in the same year, it's a shock for all of us. It's a shock for the tennis world because they are legends in our sport."

"I still will try to go strong because I feel like my body is serving me well. I still have motivation to win Grand Slams, make more history. That's one of the biggest reasons why I asked Andy to work with me. Because I still have big plans. So as long as that's the case, I'll keep going," Djokovic added.

"I don't have any date in my mind or any result after I achieve it potentially that I'm going to say goodbye and retire. I'll keep going as much as I feel like I can be one of the candidates for the biggest titles in sport."