Over the years, tennis has delivered great stories about rivalries. From John McEnroe and Björn Borg, through Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, to the present day with the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal or what for a few years was called the Big Four, joined by Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. .
Now, the story between Djokovic and one of those classic rivals could have another chapteron and off the court, since the mother of a member of the Fantastic Four could become the new coach of the current world number one.
The Serbian had a great 2023, full of titles and even achieving the mark of 24 Grand Slam wins, remaining in the sports books as the top winner of this type of tournaments. But the feat was far away in the current 2024, where Djokovic did not have a great start.
The 36-year-old tennis player began the year by losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open and a few weeks ago, he was eliminated early and surprisingly in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 of the season. After that defeat he broke ties with his main coach, Goran Ivanisevic, after six years in which he won 24 titles of which 12 were Grand Slams.
Nole, since its elimination in Australia, at the hands of the young Italian Jannik Sinner, had several encounters and crossovers with its team of coaches that caused, at the time, the tension to grow. Ivanisevic had said during his stay at Melbourne Park that Djokovic was not an easy guy and that he had even asked him not to speak to him from the box where his team watched the matches.
Novak Djokovic is thinking about a drastic change for his technical direction after the announcement of the Croatian’s dismissal and The surprise is his possible replacement: Judy Murray, mother of Andy Murrayone of Nole’s greatest rivals.
Judy Murray is not just another person in the tennis world. The 64-year-old Scot is a respected coach and former captain of the British women’s tennis team from 2011 to 2016. Additionally, Judy, as she is known on the circuit, has had a rewarding career, primarily under the support of the Lawn Tennis Association ( LTA), of the United Kingdom.
However, Judy spoke in March 2023 about the possibility of returning to the Box as a tennis player and was clear with her vision. “I would not work on the circuit with any player again. “I made it very clear when I stopped being FedCup captain.”he declared in an interview with claytenis.comhinting that she would no longer be seen as a coach.
It remains to be seen if the rumors come true. If so, Judy Murray can arrive with the necessary oxygen that Djokovic needs to turn around a year that did not start in the best way and finally surpass Margaret Court (both are 24), and become the top Grand Slam winner of the history.