Novak Djokovic shares image highlighting rival turned coach relationship with Andy Murray

Novak Djokovic has shared an image celebrating his long-standing relationship with friend and rival Andy Murray. The pair enjoyed a fierce on-court rivalry between 2006 and 2022, playing each other 36 times. The Serb leads the head-to-head 25-11 and took the now-retired Murray onto his coaching team before January's Australian Open.

The two met 10 times in Major championships, with Djokovic having much the better of those encounters, winning eight of them. Murray, however, beat the Serb twice on a grass court, including his 2013 Wimbledon triumph, which ended Britain's 77-year wait for a champion on home turf.

24-time Major winner Djokovic shared in his Instagram stories an image generated by the Ubitennis Instagram account, picturing Djokovic and Murray together at the Miami Open in 2011, above a shot of them together at this year's tournament. Recognizing the intervening gap in years, the image was captioned:

"14 Anni Dopp (14 years later)"

Novak Djokovic Instagram (djokernole)

The post was a heartwarming tribute to an enduring friendship. Despite their many on-court battles, Murray and Djokovic grew up in the game together.

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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have suggested they will work together at least through the clay court season

Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 - Day 3 - Source: Getty

Novak Djokovic, presently World No. 5, first invited Andy Murray onto his coaching staff in January. Murray helped the Serb reach the semifinals of the Australian Open where he was forced to retire with a muscle tear against World No. 2 Alexander Zverev. At first, the intention was for Murray to stay until the Sunshine Swing was complete, but in March Djokovic hinted at a longer arrangement.

They are now expected to work together across the European clay court season. After Djokovic's surprising Round of 32 exit in Qatar, where he lost in straight sets to Italian Matteo Berrettini, the great man revealed in his post-match interview, as reported by bbc.co.uk:

"It's indefinite in terms of how long we are going to work together but we agreed we are going to work most likely in the States and then some clay-court tournaments and see how it goes after that."

Despite their friendship, the tennis world was taken by surprise when the coaching arrangement was first announced. It's still a work in progress. Djokovic was beaten again at Indian Wells last week in the Round of 64 by Botic van de Zandschulp and is rumored to be unhappy with his game. He begins his assault on the Miami Open title today against Australian Rinky Hijikata.