WATCH: Novak Djokovic reacts to finding out Carlos Alcaraz is his coach Andy Murray's favorite athlete

To the surprise of many, Novak Djokovic hired Andy Murray as his coach ahead of this season, and so far, things have been going well according to the pairing. Djokovic started the year in Brisbane, where it ended at the hands of Reilly Opelka, who won in two sets. The solid play continued at the Australian Open where he made a winning start. It was a complicated match that went to four sets.

Murray and Djokovic have spoken with the media about their partnership, expressing contentment with how things have progressed. In his most recent talk with Eurosport, Djokovic humorously reacted to hearing that Murray picked Carlos Alcaraz as his favorite athlete at last year's Paris Olympics. Laura Robson asked him to guess who Murray picked, and eventually, he could:

"I know he appreciates and loves female athletes a lot. Was it a female? Alcaraz? That's his favorite athlete? Andy, we'll have to have a chat after this interview."

"I do understand. That was before he agreed to work with me," Novak Djokovic added.

As Djokovic pointed out in the video, this was before Murray and he started working together. These days, Murray's job is to help Djokovic with a plan to beat Alcaraz. The Spaniard remains one of the top rivals for the Serbian, pursuing the same goals he is.

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Tough first match in Melbourne for Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic's first Grand Slam match under Andy Murray was at the Australian Open. According to Djokovic, seeing Murray courtside in his box cheering him on was somewhat bizarre. They were rivals for many years and contested finals on the very court Djokovic played his match on. The match itself proved to be pretty tough as he faced rising talent Nishesh Basavareddy, who won the opening set.

Djokovic had some issues in the second set too but could ultimately win that one, after which he started to play better and better. Eventually, Basavareddy's level collapsed to a level low enough to allow Djokovic to assume control of the match as he cruised to a four-set victory. It wasn't an easy win for Djokovic, but he and coach Murray will likely be happy with the overall result.

It's not uncommon for Djokovic to start slow at these events because his philosophy of 'peaking at the right time' is well known in tennis circles.