"This is the final quarter of Novak Djokovic's career" - Ex-ATP pro discusses Serb's future amid Andy Murray collaboration

According to Janko Tipsarevic, Novak Djokovic is in the twilight stages of his illustrious tennis-playing career. Tipsarevic also believes Andy Murray is the right person to coach Djokovic right now. The former rivals and ATP No. 1s are in Indian Wells for the 2025 BNP Paribas Open.

Tipsarevic, a former Serbian ATP player who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8 and won four tour-level titles, was recently featured as a guest on The Tennis Podcast. The tennis pro-turned-coach-turned-politician discussed the potential future of Djokovic's playing career, particularly in light of his ongoing collaboration with Andy Murray.

He opined that Murray doesn't fall into the category of people who excelled as players but failed as coaches, saying (at 36:34):

"When I talk about glorified towel boys or people that are on tour just to, you know, pick up balls, 110% Andy Murray doesn't fall into that category. And this has nothing to do with him being the ex-world number one. There are a lot of ex-top players that are s**t coaches."

"So my description of Andy Murray as a coach has nothing to do with his prior successes as a tennis player. By his character, you can clearly see that he loves the sport. And you can, very short, that I spoke with him in Australia and that I know him over, I mean, I'm not that older than him," he added.

Tipsarevic also suggested that Andy Murray is approaching his collaboration with Novak Djokovic with focus and purpose to help the 24-time Major champion attain even more glory. The 40-year-old then shifted his attention to his legendary compatriot, who has not won an ATP Tour-level title since the beginning of 2024 due to his inconsistency and the rise of younger players who aren't afraid to take him on.

"We (referring to himself and Murray) played quite a few times on tour. This is somebody who is taking his job extremely seriously. In terms of looking at the tiniest details, what in this case somebody like Novak can do to in the, I think we can, I mean, I predicted that he will do this six years ago," Tipsarevic went on.

"Talking about Novak, I think we can say that this is the final quarter of his career, whether this will be two years or four years, we can say that it's a final quarter. o I feel from every possible person on tour, this was, and I'm not saying this because we're friends or whatever, this was the best possible hire that Novak could take. And I really feel that if he is healthy, he can have another great season," he concluded.

Djokovic rolled back the years at times during his 2025 Australian Open campaign. The prestigious hardcourt Major marked the first time Murray traveled with the Serb to a tournament as his coach.

Novak Djokovic showed glimpses of his best tennis at Australian Open 2025 with coach Andy Murray by his side

Novak Djokovic at the 2025 Australian Open (Source: Getty)

Djokovic and Murray's collaboration was first announced at the tail-end of the previous tennis season, and tennis fans got the first real taste of it at the 2025 Australian Open. The Serb started his season at the Brisbane International before arriving in Melbourne. But Murray wasn't physically present there, and the 24-time Grand Slam winner suffered an upset at the hands of Reilly Opelka in the quarterfinals.

At the Australian Open though, the 99-time ATP Tour-level titlist appeared rejuvenated with Murray by his side. The Serb's most famous win in Melbourne this year came against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, following which he gave the Brit a warm hug and later thanked him for his acceptance of the coaching role. However, Djokovic's Australian Open campaign ended in disappointment, as he controversially retired hurt during his semifinal showdown against Alexander Zverev.

The Serb's next outing came at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Murray couldn't physically attend the tournament again as a subpar Djokovic was defeated by Matteo Berrettini in the first round. Next, at Indian Wells, Murray would hope to lead the Serb to a record sixth title triumph in the Californian desert.