Samantha Stosur knew Sir Andy Murray was made for coaching when she saw the two-time Wimbledon champion carry Novak Djokovic’s bags at the Australian Open. Murray, 37, was thrust back into tennis as Djokovic’s coach, a matter of months after officially retiring from the sport as a player.
Despite a few prickly moments between the pair, Murray’s experience and guidance proved to be a perfect foil for the Serbian Down Under. Djokovic’s tournament came to an end in the semi-final against Alex Zverev as he was forced to retire after one set due to an injury to his thigh.
Yet, Murray, who also won two Olympic gold medals, the US Open and the Davis Cup in his career, left having impressed many with the work he did with Djokovic, who overcame Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals in Australia. Despite admitting to being skeptical about the arrangement, Stosur, who was as high as World No. 4 on the WTA Tour in 2011, instantly changed her mind when she saw Murray.
The Australian said to the Morning Serve: “A lot of people were skeptical when Novak made this announcement. However, when I saw Murray walking down the corridors of the tournament with Djokovic’s rackets in his hand to take them to the stringer, I knew he was taking this job very seriously.”
Stosur added: “I think everyone was surprised. I think even Andy was surprised that, A) he got the call, and then, B) actually said yes. Look, I don’t know how long the arrangement is for or what stipulates whether it keeps going or anything like that.
“But I think the huge positive in having someone like Andy in his corner is that he knows what it’s like to win these tournaments. He knows what it takes; he knows how to play the best players in the world. He knows about recovery and managing yourself; he knows everything about it.
“So if, again talking about one percenters, Andy might have one little tidbit that helped him and he can pass it on to Novak now as opposed to some of his previous coaches, then who knows? It might make the difference for him to keep going.
Djokovic has also paid respect to Murray for his contributions in the Grand Slam, particularly when he came from one set down to defeat Alcaraz. Now the tournament is over for them, they both confirmed they would meet and discuss their current working relationship.
Their initial agreement was for the Scot to be in the World No. 7’s corner until the end of the tournament. If Murray’s comments are anything to go by, then he would relish the opportunity to coach the 24-time Grand Slam winner for longer.
After Djokovic’s exit, he said: “It was an unfortunate way to finish. The match that he played against Alcaraz was some incredible tennis, amazing to watch from the side from that close, it was an amazing performance. He’d been getting gradually better as the tournament was progressing, I think. It’s obviously a really unfortunate way to finish.
“It’s hard. When you get to that stage of the tournament, you feel like you’re getting very close to something very special, and it’s unfortunate if the body’s not responding in the way that you would like. With Novak there’s always hope with him because of how great a player he is and has found ways out of difficult situations before. It just wasn’t to be this time.
