“When Novak asks, you say yes”: Martina Navratilova predicts positivity from Djokovic-Murray Australian Open partnership

Novak Djokovic arrived to Melbourne for the 2025 Australian Open without having won a major title in over 12 months, but with a new coach in former rival Andy Murray. Might his experience be what the former world No. 1 needs to end his drought and win an all-time record-breaking 25th major title?

Martina Navratilova, a former champion-turned-coach, was surprised to see Murray on court at all in the wake of his 2024 retirement.

“When somebody like Djokovic asks you, you say yes,” conceded the 18-time major champion on Tennis Channel Live. “But still, I’m surprised that emotionally, he felt ready to get back into the cauldron again.”

Fellow analyst and fellow former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport took less stock in Djokovic’s major dry spell, noting his emphasis on peaking for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, where he won a long-awaited gold medal over Carlos Alcaraz.

I think Andy can help tactically with Novak because he knows the game so well, and there’s such a little bit that makes a difference. Martina Navratilova on the Djokovic-Murray coaching partnership

“He put everything into achieving his ultimate goal, which was getting that gold medal. For whatever reason, the Grand Slams didn’t seem as important to Novak in 2024. I think it shifts back to becoming a real focal point for him and his team.”

That team now includes Murray, who hung up his racquets following the Wimbledon Championships last summer and who, after being announced as a new coach at the end of last year, has been practicing alongside Djokovic since the pair came to Melbourne to begin the Serb’s quest for a 25th major title—four of which came over Murray in Australian Open finals.

“This man was single-handedly responsible for that, but I’m not here to sabotage his chances of winning another one,” joked Murray ahead of the fortnight.

“His knowledge of his fellow players is probably the highest,” added Davenport. “He took a lot of pride in knowing every single player, and what he needed to do, what he wanted to accomplish out there. He’ll have good messages for Novak.”

Navratilova predicts that positivity will translate to the match court, where Djokovic will be under pressure as early as the quarterfinals, where young rival Alcaraz looms as a likely last-eight opponent.

“Novak can get really down on himself. He’s been mouthing off at his box, but I don’t think he’ll be doing that to Andy and that’ll help him stay positive when something bad happens and he’ll be so much stronger, mentally, just for that reason. He’ll be on his best behavior.”

As the No. 7 seed, Djokovic will play his first match against American Nishesh Basavareddy.