Andy Murray’s behaviour on holiday shared on eve of Novak Djokovic link-up

Andy Murray skipped Novak Djokovic’s first tournament of the season for a family ski trip. It didn’t go well for the world No. 7 at the Brisbane International – he suffered a shock defeat in the quarter-final. Although Murray wasn’t there, one of his good friends and old rivals has now explained exactly what the Brit would have been doing on his holiday while Djokovic was busy competing. Djokovic hired Murray as his new coach during the off-season. The pair spent a few days together in December and are set to reunite in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open.

But coach Murray – who only retired in August – appeared to be off-duty when the Serb began his season at last week’s ATP 250 event in Brisbane. Djokovic later told the crowd that his new mentor was on holiday. “He is actually skiing at the moment. He has a family skiing trip. Sending my love to the Murray family,” the 24-time Major winner said after his first-round win. Although it was vacation time for Murray, that didn’t mean he wasn’t in work mode. Dan Evans – who played doubles with Murray during his Olympics farewell last year – has now revealed that the 37-year-old will have remained dedicated to his new charge.

“It says a lot that [Novak] played Brisbane last week,” the British No. 5 told the Daily Mail. “Andy wasn’t with him but let’s not kid ourselves, even though he was on holiday he will have been watching every shot Novak played.”
It’s something Djokovic can vouch for, as he said he’d been communicating “daily” with his new coach. Murray was even keeping up-to-date with the Serb’s on-court interviews as he had a quick response when Djokovic joked that he didn’t want any injuries on the skiing trip. “I’m taking on some huge slopes as you can see but no injuries just yet,” he wrote on social media, posting a video of himself skiing down a small incline.

Murray will now head to Melbourne to assist Djokovic at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. And there will be work to do after the world No. 7’s shock loss in Brisbane. Djokovic was dumped out in the quarter-final by Reilly Opelka, who was ranked No. 293 in the world then. The 6’11 American was sidelined by injuries for two years but returned to action last summer. His 7-6(6) 6-3 win over Djokovic was his first top-10 victory since 2021. Opelka also became the lowest-ranked man ever to reach the Brisbane International semi-final. The 27-year-old made it all the way to Sunday’s final but was forced to retire injured at 1-4 in the first set, handing Jiri Lehecka the title.