Andy Murray has revealed the hilarious response he gave to Novak Djokovic after the 24-time Grand Slam winner asked the now-retired British tennis great to be his coach.
The 37-year-old has been at Melbourne Park this week in a much different role, helping the Serbian star prepare for next week’s Australian Open.
On Thursday, Djokovic faced off against Alexander Zverev in what was a spectacular duel between the two tennis stars and despite seeming like he might lose the match, Djokovic bounced back to win 7-6 (6).
The exhibition event on the eve of the first slam of the year, which was dubbed ‘A Night With Novak’, also saw Murray, Zverev and the 10-time Australian Open winner all sitting down for a chat after the match.
Murray, who announced his retirement from professional tennis last year, sent the tennis world into meltdown after taking up a role as Djokovic’s coach, something he added he did not see coming and was reluctant to step into the role, despite the former world No 1 coaxing him on to his team.
But on Thursday, Murray revealed his humorous response to Djokovic, after the Serbian had initially asked him to come on board.
‘I was shocked,’ Murray told fans inside the Rod Laver Arena. ‘I was obviously not expecting that when he called.
‘I said: ‘Look, I’m going to have to ask my wife’.’
An echo of laughter rang around the huge tennis coliseum before Murray added: ‘She was really supportive of it and it was a pretty unique opportunity and we thought we’d give it a go and see if I can help.’
During his distinguished career, the Australian Open is one tournament that has been particularly painful for Murray, who made the final of the men’s singles on five occasions but suffered defeat each time.
In fact, four of those defeats came against the man he now coaches, Djokovic, and in a tongue-and-cheek dig at the Serbian, Murray opened up on being unable to win at Melbourne Park.
‘Yeah, I played here quite a few times, could never quite get it over the line,’ he said.
‘This man [nodding to Djokovic] is single-handedly responsible for that.
‘I’m now here to try and sabotage his chances of winning another one,’ Murray joked.
The Scotsman also made a surprise return to the court during the charity evening for a knock with Djokovic, alongside Victoria Azarenka and Zheng Qinwen.
Murray showed that you never lose the magic, notably smashing down a huge volley onto Djokovic, which the Serbian star could not return.
But despite Murray’s play, he copped some flack from Djokovic and even his partner, Azarenka.
‘Can I substitute your son for Andy,’ she said, speaking to Djokovic. ‘I’ve heard he’s a very good player.’
While Djokovic’s son, Stefan, declined the offer, the Serbian star added: ‘I think he would do better than Andy.’
Earlier today, Murray revealed that he found out that Djokovic wanted him to be his coach while he was on the golf course.
‘I was on the 17th hole of the golf course and the guy I was playing with said to me, ‘Do you know what’s next’? I was like, “No, not really”. He said: “Do you have any plans to do any coaching”? And I said, :Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now”,’ Murray said on Thursday.
‘And then 30 minutes later I was in the car and I called Novak, and then we had a conversation and he asked if I would be interested in helping, which I obviously wasn’t expecting.’