Andy Murray reveals story behind Novak Djokovic coaching call: ‘My wife was surprised’

Andy Murray admitted he was completely against the idea of going straight into coaching before Novak Djokovic tempted him back on tour.

The Scot’s partnership with his former rival is the talk of Melbourne Park and there was again plenty of discussion between the pair at a practice session on Thursday.

Afterwards, Murray talked about his new role, which took the whole sporting world by surprise when Djokovic announced it in November, with a small group of reporters.

The 37-year-old also did not see it coming, saying: “I was actually playing golf. We’d actually been exchanging messages. Novak had messaged me just wanting to chat.

“I was on the 17th hole of the golf course and the guy I was playing with said to me, ‘Do you know what’s next’? I was like, ‘No, not really’. He said ‘Do you have any plans to do any coaching’? And I said, ‘Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now’.

“And then 30 minutes later I was in the car and I called Novak, and then we had a conversation and he asked if I would be interested in helping, which I obviously wasn’t expecting.

“I said to him, ‘Look, I need to think about it and talk to my family’. So I spoke to them and, after a couple of days, I thought that it was a pretty unique opportunity and experience.”

Murray has spent a lot of time on the golf course since his retirement following the Olympics last summer, while he also spoke about the desire to spend more time with his young family.

He was unable to join Djokovic at the warm-up tournament in Brisbane last week because of a family skiing holiday, but Murray insisted going back on the road had not caused marital tensions.