- The legendary rivals had been working together since Australian Open build-up
- After promising win against Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne, Djokovic has struggled
- Serbian will now travel to Geneva to fine tune his clay preparations for Paris
The superstar partnership between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray has ended just six weeks before Wimbledon.
Murray stunned the tennis world in November by announcing he would be coaching his old rival, but after a positive start results have tailed off and the parting of ways – understood to be a mutual decision – comes as no great surprise.
‘Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together,’ said Murray. ‘And thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months. I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season.’
Djokovic said: ‘Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court, really enjoyed deepening our friendship together.’
After a 10-day pre-season training camp in Marbella last winter, Murray’s first tournament in the coaching box was the Australian Open. Djokovic played some of his best tennis of the last 12 months in reaching the semi-finals, when a muscular tear forced him to retire against Alexander Zverev.
But since Melbourne, Djokovic has lost his first match in four of his five events, the exception being a run to the final in Miami, where he was beaten in straight sets by Jakub Mensik.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will end their surprise partnership after six months of work

Djokovic has had an uneasy time on clay in recent weeks and is looking to tune up ahead of the French Open – and his elusive 25th Grand Slam

Murray and Djokovic enjoyed a promising Australian Open before the player was forced to retire due to injury
The 37-year-old’s form is in tatters as he approaches the business end of the season, with the French Open less than a fortnight away, followed by Wimbledon. In desperate need of wins on clay before Roland Garros, Djokovic has entered the warm-up event in Geneva, which begins on May 18.
As for Murray, he has found his first venture into the coaching world to be a steep learning curve, and will carry some valuable lessons into his next job.
A new role is unlikely to be imminent, however. Murray, who turns 38 on Thursday, had been enjoying retirement and had no plans to get back into the game any time soon. In fact he told friends he could not think of anything worse than moving into coaching.
He considered the opportunity to work with the greatest player of all time to be too good to turn down but now that has come to an end, Murray will likely go back to enjoying time with his wife Kim and four children, as well as working on his fast-improving golf game.
But he has too much passion, and too great a tennis mind, to stay away for too long, and when the right opportunity arises we will surely see him back in the coaching box soon.