Ex-ATP star thinks Novak Djokovic firing Andy Murray before Wimbledon will be ‘weird’
Andy Murray retired at the Paris Olympics last year and almost four months later, he joined Novak Djokovic's team as his coach.
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Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic (Image via ATP/X)
Under Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the final of the Miami Open. Apart from making deep runs in these two tournaments, twice he has lost three consecutive matches this season.
He retired-mid match in the Australian Open semifinals against Alexander Zverev due to an injury, following which he lost his first match of the Qatar Open and Indian Wells. After reaching the Miami Open final, Djokovic lost his opening-round matches at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open.
Former World No.21 Steve Johnson thinks the partnership between the two former rivals is not working, but he foresees them working at least till Wimbledon.
It’s weird to see, and I don’t see the Murray partnership paying off, but it would be weird timing to have them not be together for Wimby like they partner all year, then they’re not together for Wimby? So my assumption is that it goes to Wimby, then I don’t know. Because that would be weird if he, like, fired him in Queen’s.
Steve Johnson said on the Nothing Major podcast
Djokovic hired the three-time Grand Slam champion in November last year after the Scot hung up his racket at the Paris Olympics. At first, Djokovic said they would be working at least till the Australian Open, but they eventually extended it.
After his subpar performance on the clay swing, the Serb withdrew from the Italian Open, which is currently underway at the Foro Italico. Djokovic, a six-time champion in Rome, withdrew from the tournament for the first time since 2007. Last year in the tournament, Alejandro Tabilo knocked him out in the third round.
Boris Becker chooses the GOAT between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer
For different people, their GOAT (Greatest of All Time) player in tennis is different. But for Boris Becker, every member of the Big 3- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic– is the best of all time.
If I had to explain their historical importance, I’d say Djokovic is the most successful, Federer the most popular, and Nadal the most feared. If you faced Rafa at Roland Garros, you knew there was nothing you could do. Beating him there was the only impossible feat in a sport where anything is possible.
Boris Becker told El Mundo
Federer was the first member of the Big 3 to reach the 20-Grand Slam mark and was the first to call time on his career (retired at the 2022 Laver Cup). Two years later at the Davis Cup, 22-time Major champion Nadal followed suit.
Without any doubt, age too is catching up with the 24-time Grand Slam champion. He will next be playing at the French Open, where he will be bidding to tie the Grand Slam tally with Margaret Court.
Novak Djokovic is the winner of three French Open titles
Djokovic will definitely not be entering the French Open as a favorite player, given that it’s a tournament he won only thrice, and one of the reasons being Rafael Nadal’s undisputed dominance. There will be two young guns, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, as well as Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud, who will enter the clay-court Major as contenders.
Djokovic last lifted the Roland Garros in 2023 by beating Ruud. He did not lift his first French Open before 2016. His second title came in 2021, en route to which he knocked out Nadal in the semifinals. Last year in the tournament, he scheduled a quarterfinal clash with Ruud but withdrew from the tournament because of an injury.
But at Roland Garros about a couple of months later at the Paris Olympics, he beat Alcaraz to win his first gold medal. He has not yet won a title since that victory.
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