Djokovic appoints his ‘same-age’ rival Murry as his coach and will be with him until next year’s Australian Open “Our story that seemed to be over, the final chapter remains.”

Novak Djokovic (7th place, Serbia) and Andy Murray. Born in 1987, they were of the same age and competed fiercely when Murray was on active duty.

But now we fight as colleagues rather than enemies.

Djokovic said on his social networking service (SNS) on the 24th, “I appointed Murray, who was one of my strong rivals, as my coach,” and added, “Now I get to work with him on one side of the net.”

Murray will be with us as coach until next year’s Australian Open. Djokovic said, “I had many special times with Murray in Australia.”

Djokovic and Murray competed in the ‘Big Four’ of men’s tennis in the mid-2000s along with Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Rafael Nadal (Spain). In particular, in the mid-2010s, when Federer and Nadal were both faltering due to injuries, they faced each other in the finals of numerous major tournaments.

Novak Djokovic (right) and Andy Murray. Getty Images Korea

It is known that Djokovic and Murray first faced each other when they were 11 years old, and Murray won at the time. On the adult stage, Djokovic had a significant lead over his opponent with 25 wins and 11 losses. In particular, although Murray reached the Australian Open final five times, he only finished second in all of them, losing to Djokovic in four of them. Djokovic had the upper hand in major tournament finals with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses, and Murray defeated Djokovic in the 2012 US Open final and the 2013 Wimbledon final.

Murray retired after the Paris Olympics this year. Murray pledged through his social media, “I will help Djokovic achieve his goal.”

Djokovic parted ways with coach Goran Ivanisevic after six years in March this year. And this year, he achieved a career golden slam by winning the gold medal in men’s singles at the Paris Olympics, but he failed to win a major championship.

Djokovic said, “I had a fierce competition with Murray, and it seemed like the story with him was over, but the final chapter remains,” adding, “I got to have one of my toughest opponents in our corner.”

Novak Djokovic (left) and Andy Murray. Getty Images Korea