It’s not often you would find a zero next to Novak Djokovic’s tally of Grand Slams for the season. That’s exactly what happened in 2024 and what that means is that the Serb enters the 2025 Australian Open as the third favourite behind Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic is 4/1 to make it his 11th title Down Under with defending champion and world number one Sinner starting out a favourite at 2/1. Alcaraz is just behind with bookmakers offering 5/2 for his win.
And that might have forced Djokovic’s hand to bring in a fresh mind when he announced late November that he was going to bring in Andy Murray as his next coach.
Once rivals who had faced off 36 times at the highest level – with Djokovic leading that rivalry 25-11 – the two will now look to plot the Serb’s strategies as he hunts for his 25th grand slam win. And what better place to do it than at the Australian Open where Djokovic has won a record 10 times in his career including as recently as the 2023 edition.
Murray, who announced his retirement from tennis at the Paris Olympics, is a former two-time Wimbledon and one-time US Open winner.
This follows Djokovic’s decision to end his professional relationship with his then-coach Goran Ivanisevic early in 2024. The two were together for six years.
What’s interesting to note is that the two will join hands in the lead-up to the start of the 2025 season and will be together till the end of the 2025 season’s first major. Following this they will re-look at their partnership again.
One of the reasons why Djokovic might have taken this step other than his inability to win a major is his record in 2024 was an underwhelming 37-9, poor by his own lofty standards.
Speaking to Sky Sports following the appointment, Djokovic explained the Murray appointment:
“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.”
What now needs to be seen is if Murray’s appointment can turn Djokovic’s fortunes as the tennis calendar builds up to the season’s first Grand Slam.
Before that, Djokovic might feature in one of the tournaments that are held in the lead-up to the Australian Open but more information on this is still awaited. While Djokovic could give United Cup a slip, he might take part in the ATP Brisbane International which begins two weeks before the start of that major in Melbourne.
