“He needs a little…,” Brad Gilbert explains main reason why Novak Djokovic hired Andy Murray as his coach
Novak Djokovic added Andy Murray to his team for the Australian Open and Brad Gilbert explained the reason behind this partnership.
Follow Us
Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (Image via X)
What’s the reason behind Novak Djokovic‘s decision to hire Andy Murray as his coach? American coach Brad Gilbert thinks Djokovic needs motivation to fight against the two young Grand Slam champions Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner which is why he hired someone like Murray.
Against both Alcaraz and Sinner, Djokovic lost this season. The 37-year-old Serbian great was defeated by Sinner in the semifinals of the Australian Open and in the final of the Shanghai Masters. Djokovic was denied once again his eighth Wimbledon title as he lost in the final for the second time on the trot to Alcaraz.
Outside of the ATP Tour, Djokovic beat Alcaraz in the Paris Olympics final. That was his first gold medal in the Olympics but he went trophyless on the ATP Tour, with Alcaraz and Sinner winning the four Majors.
Andy knows a lot about Novak, he knows a lot about the players that Novak is going after. But I think more than anything, where Novak is, there are these two huge young guys now, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have just really stepped up and I think Novak probably feels like he needs a little motivation, and I think that’s the biggest thing.
Brad Gilbert told ATP Tour website
Murray will be in Djokovic’s box at the Australian Open the tournament where the Brit lost four times in the final to the Serb. If the collaboration becomes a success, Murray could be in Djokovic’s team after the Australian Open as well.
Brad Gilbert recalls Andy Murray’s first impression of Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray hired Brad Gilbert to his team in 2006 and when the coach was going through a list of players and asked Murray to reveal who troubled him the most, Murray said it was only Novak Djokovic. Gilbert now recalled Murray’s response in that same interview with ATP Tour.
I remember him saying, ‘None of those guys matter, it’s only Novak’.
Brad Gilbert said
Murray clashed with Djokovic for the first time in 2006, in the fourth round of the Madrid Open which Djokovic won and went on to beat the Scot three more times until the latter finally broke the streak in the quarterfinal of the 2008 Canada Open.
Djokovic and Murray have met 36 times on the ATP Tour and had a 25-11 win-loss record. Their last encounter was in the fourth round of the 2022 Madrid Open.
Stay Updated!
Gouri Das
(4696 Articles Published)