Andy Murray’s appointment elates Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has come out to say that he is very happy to appoint his former rival Andy Murray as his coach ahead of the new campaign.

Novak Djokovic’s decision to appoint long-term friend and rival Andy Murray has caused a stir in the past week.

The 99-time singles titlist Djokovic will team with the Scot in the new season. But how did the decision come about?

While speaking to Sky Sports at the Formula 1 on Friday, the 37-year-old Serbian explained his reasons for appointing the Brit and former No.1 ahead of next year’s Australian Open.

“I was going through a process of thinking about next season in the past couple of months and figuring out what I needed as I stopped with my coach Goran Ivanisevic, who I was successful with,” Djokovic told Sky Sports. “I took about six months to think if I really needed a coach and if yes, who is that going to be and the profile of the coach.

“We were going through different names and I realised at this point the perfect coach would be someone who has been through the experiences I have been through. A multiple Grand Slam winner and I was thinking about a few and the Andy Murray discussion appeared on the table with my team. I decided I would give him a call and see how it goes. It caught him off guard a little bit as he wasn’t expecting it.

“We connected really fast and he accepted it after a few days. I can’t be more excited about it. This collaboration is a surprise to me as well, to everyone, but it is exciting for tennis. He has been one of my greatest rivals, we are at the same age. We played in all the biggest stages in our sport so I can’t wait to be out there next season.”

Djokovic will aim to win a record-extending 25th major at the Australian Open in January. Born a week apart in May 1987, both Djokovic and Murray climbed to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and battled on the world’s biggest stages. Djokovic and Murray clashed in 36 Lexus ATP Head2Head showdowns, with the former winning 25 of them.

Murray ended his playing career at the Paris Olympics in July.