Andy Murray has sent a message to his new boss Novak Djokovic from his skiing holiday to reassure him after the tennis star addressed his injury concerns.
The Scot, who retired from tennis in August, has taken up a surprise role with Djokovic’s coaching team ahead of the Australian Open.
It appears the 37-year-old had already planned a ski trip with his family – including wife Kim and their four children – prior to taking the job with Team Djokovic and that has been honoured.
Murray has headed to the mountains during the winter months as he tries out another sport, having dabbled in playing golf during his downtime away from tennis.
Djokovic revealed that Murray was away skiing when he played alongside Nick Kyrgios at the Brisbane International event in Australia, as the Serbian continues his preparations for the Australian swing in January.
When asked about Murray’s whereabouts, Djokovic told the crowd: “He’s actually skiing at the moment. He has a family ski trip and I’m sending all my love to the Murray family.”
He then joked: “I hope he doesn’t get injured skiing before he comes to Melbourne, that wouldn’t be great!
“But we spoke before the match, we’re communicating daily. I’m excited to have him in my team, in my corner.
“For 20 plus years, he’s been across the net. For the first time ever he’ll be on the same side of the net [as me], so it should be fun.”
In response to Djokovic’s tongue-in-cheek comments, Murray uploaded a video for his 3.4 million followers to watch on X (formerly Twitter) where he allayed the Serbian’s concerns.
“I’m taking on some huge slopes as you can see but no injuries just yet,” Murray said, adding a crying-laughing emoji to sum up the tone of his light-hearted post on X.
Murray also posted a video clip from the slopes as he gets to grips with his skis. And while he may be an elite athlete, the Dunblane native looked far from comfortable as he navigated the various bumps and icy conditions.
Djokovic will be hoping to make amends after a disappointing 2024, where he failed to win a Grand Slam for the first time since 2017.
The 37-year-old will be focusing his efforts on going all out for his 25th Grand Slam, which would represent the most Majors won by any singles tennis player in history, after clinching his elusive gold medal at the Olympics in August.
While Murray himself never won the Australian Open, finishing as a five-time runner up after losing to Djokovis in four finals, he will now be helping the 24-time Grand Slam winner go for his 11th title Down Under.
And after spending four months out of action since losing the Shanghai Masters final to Jannik Sinner in mid-October, there may be no better player to assist his recovery than Murray, who has battled from some horrendous injuries in his career.
