Rune, on Djokovic’s new partnership with Murray: “I didn’t expect it to be Andy”

The tennis world has been buzzing ever since it was announced that Novak Djokovic and newly retired Andy Murray had joined forces and will work together at this year’s Australian Open.

Today at media for the UTS Grand Final, players gave their views on what we might expect from the two legends in 2025.

Holger Rune, who has a great friendship with Novak Djokovic, and a brewing rivalry (head-to-head: Djokovic leads 4-2), says that he was shocked to hear of the two joining forces.

“It’s an interesting setup for sure,” Rune told the media. “I don’t think many of us saw it coming. I think it can be potentially good for both of them. Novak didn’t have a coach before so it was natural for him to find a coach, but I didn’t expect someone like Andy.”

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Ugo Humbert expressed the same sentiment as he talked to the media on Thursday inside the Copper Box Arena in London, where the UTS Grand Final will be held.

“Yeah I was surprised,” he said. “Djokovic with Murray, I didn’t expect that, but yes, for sure it’s nice for tennis and for Novak. I think it’s a good option and I’m excited to see them together in Australia.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis says that Murray has great potential as coach because he is an analytical thinker who is great at breaking his opponents down tactically.

“There’s not a whole lot of people that can tell a whole lot to Novak, but if someone can tell him anything, [Andy] played in the same era and he played against him, so I’m sure he knows some things that he probably thinks would help – I think Andy will do a good job.”

Rune says at first he didn’t quite understand what brought the two together, but he quickly realised that the pair would benefit from their vast volume of knowledge, gained from two decades of elite tennis.

What made them connect? Tennis IQ

“Andy is obviously super intelligent player, and also a guy that has been beating him sometimes,” Rune said. “I was thinking like ‘Why exactly were they paired together?’ and I think it’s because they can talk a lot about strategy and how to beat the best players. They both have a very high IQ in tennis. I think it’s going to be very interesting.”

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Novak wants more majors

Rune says that Djokovic may have suffered from a lack of motivation after winning his Olympic gold medal in Paris last summer. The Dane doesn’t believe motivation will be an issue for Djokovic in 2025.

He says the Grand Slam king will be hungry to pad his legacy with a few more major titles.

“I’m sure that’s his goal,” Rune said. “This year I’m sure his goal was to win the Olympics and he managed to do that. I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but that was maybe his only goal for the year in a way, and once he achieved that maybe the motivation (was low), I don’t know.

“For sure he’s eager to get more chance and he believes he can do it, so it’s just a great chance for us younger players to try to stop him.”

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