Melbourne: The Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic, who will be playing the Australian Open with long-time rival Andy Murray as his coach, said that the former player is a "meticulous professional" who gives him more motivation to spend as much time as possible on court.
The Serbian icon and 24-time Grand Slam winner delivered the news of joining forces with Murray back in November and the Australian Open is their first tournament together as player-coach duo. After splitting with Goran Ivanisevic in March, Djokovic has turned to three-time Slam winner and double Olympic champion Murray.
Djokovic is pursuing his 25th major title and a record-extending 11th Australian Open title. It will also mark a century of tour-level titles. He recently took part in the Brisbane International, losing to Reilly Opelka in the quarterfinals.
Opening up on his collaboration with Murray, Djokovic was quoted as saying by ATP's official website, "He gives me motivation [and] inspires me to be spending time on the court. There is a lot of communication about every shot in the game, my game, tactics, mental approach, communication on the court during matches, and practice sessions."
"He is very meticulous, a very dedicated professional. So far I have been enjoying this collaboration," he added.
Djokovic is making his 20th appearance in the Australian Open and wants success in this partnership alongside plenty of enjoyment and memories. He reminisced on the first time they faced off as young kids.
"I think that his unique perspective on my game is the fact that he has played me for 25 years," said Djokovic, who had a lead of 25-11 over the legend in the ATP Head-to-Head series.
"The first time we faced each other was when we were 12 years old. He knows the evolution of my game, I guess the weaknesses and strengths of my game."
"We talk about a lot of different things. He is trying to understand me on different levels. He also knows the game, the tennis game, of the biggest players in the world right now because he has just recently retired as a player."
"He has done an incredible job, particularly after he got the surgery, his artificial hip, winning tournaments after that, playing at Challenger level. [He is] someone that is a legend of the sport, just showing everyone what it means to be a champion in a real sense of that word," he concluded.
Both born a week apart in May 1987, both Murray and Djokovic have touched the top spot in the ATP Rankings and have battled in the world's biggest tournaments, playing a total of 36 clashes together, with Djokovic winning 25 of them. Murray called time on his playing career back in August after the Paris Olympics.
Djokovic's first-round opponent will be USA's Nishesh Basavareddy. (ANI)