Andy Murray will bring “huge value” to Novak Djokovic and his team, according to Murray’s former coach Daniel Vallverdu.
The long-time rivals made a surprise announcement last month, revealing that Murray was joining Team Djokovic as a coach, starting with this offseason and next month's Australian Open.
Vallverdu, who has known Murray since they were teenagers at the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona and was part of the Briton’s coaching staff between 2010 and 2014, believes the new Djokovic-Murray partnership will be fuelled by a shared desire to neutralise the threat of the younger generation.
“I think he brings a lot – and a lot more than people can think of as a first impression,” Vallverdu told The National.
“I think he will bring motivation, he will bring a sense of, it’s them against the younger boys. It will bring a sense of having someone by his side that has not only been through similar situations that he has, but who has been alongside him when he’s been going through these situations and also on the other side of the court.
“He will bring incredible tennis knowledge and incredible tennis IQ, which between the two of them, in my opinion, they’re currently two players – and Andy being an ex-player – that have the highest tennis IQ, they’re just two brilliant tennis minds.”
This year was the first since 2002 that no member of the ‘Big Three’ – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer – has won at least one grand slam, with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz splitting the four majors between them in 2024.
While Djokovic fulfilled a lifelong dream of winning Olympic gold at the Paris Games during the summer, the Serb was unable to pick up any additional silverware in his 2024 campaign, which he finished ranked seventh in the world.
With 99 titles on his resume, including an all-time record 24 Grand Slams, Djokovic has nothing left to prove but his appointment of Murray as his new coach implies the 37-year-old is not done with tennis just yet.
“From my perspective I can’t wait to see the outcome and I cannot wait to see how that relationship develops,” said Vallverdu.
“You never know obviously what the results will be but my sense is that it will be a very fruitful and positive partnership and a very positive coach-player relationship with great results.
“I’m expecting Novak to have an incredible season and to have really good results. I think Andy will bring huge value and it will become a team where they will feel, OK, we the older guys are now having to take on the younger generation with all our knowledge. And knowing them both, they will give everything they have to try and achieve all of Novak’s goals. So it will be very special to watch and I cannot wait.”
Vallverdu currently splits his time between coaching Grigor Dimitrov – alongside Jamie Delgado – and his role as strategic advisor to the Saudi Tennis Federation.
He is also the co-tournament director of the Next Gen ATP Finals, which commenced in Jeddah on Wednesday for the second of five editions of the event taking place in the Red Sea city.
Dimitrov is currently in Dubai preparing for the 2025 season with Delgado and the rest of the team and the Bulgarian is looking to build on a resurgent 2024, in which he returned to the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since 2018.
Asked to divulge the secret behind this Dimitrov renaissance, Vallverdu said: “I think he’s been extremely committed to the game over the last two years, since we started working again.
“We have a great team around him, with Jamie Delgado and [fitness trainer] Sebastien Durand and the rest of the team. He’s been with Seb for the past 15 years and he’s been working with me and Jamie over the last couple of years.
“We’ve managed to build a lot of consistency around him, in terms of work and in terms of routines and habits and building the right way to be at the top of the game. And his commitment has been incredible.
“And not only that, but obviously once you start coming towards the end of your career, it comes down to how hungry you are to have the big results. And that hunger and passion is still there, which is amazing to see and amazing to have the opportunity to work with him at this stage of his career with his ambitions.”
Dimitrov, 33, began his 2024 season by lifting the trophy in Brisbane – his first title since 2017 – and reached another three finals, at the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami, and the ATP 250 events in Marseille and Stockholm. He went 6-5 against top-10 opponents this year and finished the season ranked No 10 in the world.
“So what’s been the key? It’s a lot of different components coming together and him being very committed to finish his career as strong as he can and give it all he has for the next few years,” said Vallverdu.
“He’s in a good place, obviously had a great year last year, back in the top 10 after a while, and now he’s having a great offseason in Dubai with Jamie and the rest of the team.
“I’m in daily contact with them but they’re the ones doing the hard work under the sun. They’re looking forward for the season to begin. He’ll fly to Australia on the 23rd of December and start in Brisbane.
“He’s looking forward to 2025 and obviously the competition is extremely challenging. This younger generation keeps getting better and better, and that’s what’s exciting as well. Which is I’m sure what’s exciting Novak also, it’s seeing the challenge in front of them and finding ways with their experience and their, maybe, different game styles to try and disrupt the younger player at least for a few more years.”
Both Djokovic and Dimitrov will kick off their 2025 seasons at the ATP 250 in Brisbane, which runs from December 31 to January 7, in the build-up to the Australian Open.
