Ex-coach shares Andy Murray’s brutally trustworthy 2006 remark about Novak Djokovic

Coach Brad Gilbert says he nonetheless completely remembers when a younger Andy Murray very instantly recognized Novak Djokovic because the participant who was giving him probably the most bother on the courtroom and underlined that nobody else mattered. 

When the Briton was simply beginning his professional journey, he employed Andre Agassi’s ex-coach long-time coach and that is how he and the American ended up working between 2006 July and 2007 November. 

After being added to the workforce, Gilbert went by way of some fundamentals with Murray and that included eager to know if there was a matchup he did not like in any respect. That is when the now-British tennis legend immediately identified to Djokovic. 

“I bear in mind him saying, ‘None of those guys matter, it’s solely Novak,'” the American coach told the ATP website. 

Before Gilbert was brought in, Murray had lost to the Serb at the 2006 Madrid Masters. While it was their first meeting on the ATP Tour, it absolutely wasn’t the first time that they clashed against each other – they were competing against each other since their junior days. So by the time they became pros, they already knew each other very well and had many battles between them.

While the Briton was working with the American coach, he was beaten by Djokovic twice. Ultimately, he finished with 11 wins and 25 losses against the Serb.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot

 

Gilbert on the Murray – Djokovic partnership 

After being one of the biggest rivals and creating one of the best tennis rivalries in the 21st century, the former two-time Wimbledon champion and the record 24-time Grand Slam winner are now set to work together. 

This time, the 37-year-old took a completely different approach. And Gilbert isn’t really surprised because he had a feeling that the Serb would try to do something differently and see if that helps him challenge better Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz next year.

“I kind of sensed that Novak was going to do something. You didn’t know what he was going to do, but you kind of sensed that he probably needed something, and something to motivate him. And obviously he goes way back with Andy. Andy knows a lot about Novak, knows a lot about the players who Novak is going to be chasing. But I think more than anything, where Novak is, you’ve got these two huge, young guys now [Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz] who have just really elevated and I think Novak probably feels like he needs a little bit and I think most importantly, needs that motivation,” the American added.

Gilbert on what to look out for early within the Djokovic and Murray collaboration

Proper now, it’s nonetheless early to present any definitive statements about what could or not occur. However when the general public will get to see their practices and the Serb’s first matches in 2025, that is when some questions is likely to be answered.

“The very first thing I’ll wish to do after I’m in Australia is simply go watch Murray and Novak follow. It will likely be attention-grabbing, do they follow collectively? Is he practising with a follow accomplice? And [I want to see] if I discover something completely different early within the first spherical. As a coach myself and a former participant, I’m type of fascinated seeing if there’s something completely different straight away,” Gilbert explained.

Meanwhile, Djokovic himself admitted that he needed something different time. In this case, it was adding someone who was in his position and could understand him.

“I was going through a process of thinking about next season in the past couple of months and figuring out what I needed as I stopped with my coach Goran Ivanisevic, who I was successful with. I took about six months to think if I really needed a coach and if yes, who is that going to be and the profile of the coach,” Djokovic instructed Sky Sports activities.

“We had been going by way of completely different names and I spotted at this level the proper coach can be somebody who has been by way of the experiences I’ve been by way of. A a number of Grand Slam winner and I used to be fascinated with just a few and the Andy Murray dialogue appeared on the desk with my workforce. I made a decision I might give him a name and see the way it goes. It caught him off guard a little bit bit as he wasn’t anticipating it.”

Some stories indicated that Murray wouldn’t be part of Djokovic in Brisbane and that their partnership would formally begin on the Australian Open.