As a five-time Australian Open finalist, Andy Murray was in a familiar place in his return to Rod Laver Arena. He was also in familiar company sharing that court alongside Novak Djokovic, given the Serbian thwarted Murray’s plans in four of those five championship matches at Melbourne Park.
But the view for the 37-year-old was pointedly different at Australian Open 2025, with Murray forming a prominent member of Djokovic’s coaching team. And for the most part over the past fortnight, Murray liked what he saw.
“I got to witness some amazing tennis, and one of the best matches that I've seen live against [Carlos] Alcaraz,” Murray told a small group of media of Djokovic’s progress to the semifinals, which ended with an injury-enforced retirement to Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Djokovic’s four-set win over the highly-fancied Alcaraz in the quarterfinals – in which he was treated for the left hamstring tear that eventually led to the semifinal withdrawal – was unquestionably the high point of the new coach-player partnership, prompting a warm embrace at the on-court coaching pod.
“It was a cool moment. I think everyone was pretty pumped after the match and considering how he was feeling but then like the way that he played,” said Murray.
“It was unreal tennis, [an] incredible performance. And yeah, we were all pumped at the side.”
It proved a far different experience to the near 70 matches that Murray contested in 16 Australian Open appearances – with coaching, he related, the far less taxing role.
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“It's definitely harder playing, that's for sure. I would dispute people that say that it's harder watching from the sides. I know how stressful it can be out there playing the matches,” said Murray.
“I felt a lot of nerves and stuff in the build-up to the matches, but when I was watching it I felt like I was able to sort of switch that off. I felt calm at the side and was sort of watching trying to do my job.”
Still, there was understandable empathy and a shared disappointment when Djokovic’s injury forced an abrupt ending in Friday’s semifinal.
“Yeah, it's hard. When you get to that stage of the tournament, you feel like you're getting very close to something very special, and it's unfortunate if the body's not responding in the way that you would like,” said Murray, relating that Djokovic was “always going to go out there and give it a good shot.”.
“With Novak, there's always hope with him because of how great a player he is and has found ways out of difficult situations before. It just wasn't to be this time.”
While neither Murray nor Djokovic can comment on the likelihood of the partnership continuing, the Scot takes many positives from their trial experience.
“I feel like they've been a great team. At times it feels a little bit embarrassing that because of my relationship with Novak, how much people talk about that or when there's a good result or a good performance that it's because I've helped him,” he said.
“I'm fully aware that the team that is with him has done an incredible job over many, many years to allow him to still be competing at this level at the age that he’s at. They’ve been really helpful to me … it’s been great to be a part of.”
There were also many lessons, and a new level of empathy for those who’d held the same position in Murray’s many years on tour.
“It's a steep learning curve for me as well,” he added. “Obviously there's a lot of things that as a player, you know things are different when you're coaching, there's a lot more that you need to help with in terms of communication around the team.
“You're not just thinking about yourself like you are when you're a player. I've certainly learned a lot but there's a lot more still for me to learn, that's for sure.”