‘Smart Move’ – Alex Corretja explains why Andy Murray appointment could be bad news for Novak Djokovic’s rivals

Novak Djokovic sprung a huge surprise for the 2025 tennis season when he announced Andy Murray would be his new trainer. Murray only retired earlier in the year, and with Djokovic undergoing a tough 2024, Eurosport tennis expert Alex Corretja believes the Scot could bring a new tactical improvement to the Serbian’s approach to competing with younger players.

Eurosport tennis expert Alex Corretja has backed Andy Murray to succeed as Novak Djokovic’s new trainer. Djokovic recently made the surprise announcement that Murray, who only retired this year, would be teaming up with him as trainer. The 37-year-old has fallen down the world rankings of late, and is currently world No. 8 in men’s tennis.

The past season is Djokovic’s first since 2017 when he did not land a Grand Slam to add to his record of 24 Grand Slam titles, though he did win the 2024 Olympic Games gold medal in Paris this summer.

Murray and Rafael Nadal both drew a line under their careers earlier this year after suffering with injuries for much of the last few years, while Roger Federer, the other of the Big Four, stepped back in 2022.

The Serbian does not appear interested in retiring imminently, but Corretja was taken aback by Djokovic’s decision. He said: “I was totally in shock. I have to agree for, let’s say, 10 seconds, 15 seconds and right away I thought, ‘what a smart move from Novak and from Andy, at the same time’. 

Corretja anticipates that Djokovic will need to come out more aggressively next season to compete with his younger rivals. “I think he needs to do different things for sure,” he said. “Novak, because he’s been very consistent, very solid and almost like a perfect machine. “But right now the other guys are a bit younger, they move a bit faster.

So I’m expecting a very aggressive version of Novak, otherwise he will struggle. He can just step back and just run. I mean, he will need to do that to defend because definitely, when you play the top guys, you need to know how to defend as well, because you cannot not always get in position. 

“But at the same time, if you’re not going on court, knowing that you need to go for it, serve well, you know, push with the return, and from time to time and change down the line, coming to the net, he will struggle.”

The Spaniard also believes that Djokovic has brought in Murray to show to the rest of the world that he remains ambitious for the coming season, and is not winding down.

He continued: “For Novak to show that he’s still hungry, I’m bringing someone very special. Everybody has respect for Novak and everybody has respect for Andy. “So I think when you play against Novak, and then you have Andy on the chair, you’re going to feel quite a bit of pressure, knowing that they know a lot, they’ve been winning a lot, and they know what they’re going to do.”