“There was zero reason why this needed to be announced” : Andy Roddick believes Novak Djokovic intentionally tried to overshadow Rafael Nadal’s retirement by appointing Andy Murray as coach
November has been one of the most hectic months tennis fans have had to follow in recent times. From Jannik Sinner continuing his domination to Rafael Nadal’s emotional retirement and final match in the Davis Cup, there was room for one more shock of the year courtesy of Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian, who had been without a coach since March, announced the world that none other than recently retired Andy Murray would be his coach going into 2025. This news was shocking mainly due to the Englishman’s age and that he has never coached anyone before, but the Serbian feels that this will work exceptionally at this stage of his career.
But Andy Roddick believes Djokovic also had another motive to announce this decision, which was surprisingly very close to the Spainard’s retirement. Roddick dropped a big allegation on the Serbian and the Brit that they are enjoying this attention by overshadowing Nadal’s retirement, which some fans feel was already underwhelming for someone his stature.
“I get memes are fun, but there is no part of this that’s a joke. I don’t think it’s a vanity project. Hey listen, is the attention fun? Is the buzz fun? Is it fun to know that you can create a s**tstorm in the tennis world and override any storyline?” The American said on his podcast Served with Andy Roddick.
“Oh, oh, oh! Rafa retired this weekend? Should we dominate the headlines at the end of that week? There was zero reason why this needed to be announced. Zero,” the 42-year-old added when asked if he was referring to something specific.
It is also worth noting that Novak Djokovic was initially scheduled to attend the Spainard’s retirement ceremony but, in the end could not make it, and then proceeded to announce Murray as his coach the very same week.
The iconic rivalry of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
No rivalry, not even Federer vs Nadal, has come this close over the years, The Serbian and Spainard have fought valiantly against each other for many years, with both not even giving an inch of breather to the other. In the end, Djokovic just about edged Nadal 31-29 in the 60 times they have met each other.
Djokovic can also proudly say that he has the most wins vs Nadal on clay (the Spainard’s most dominant area of speciality) than anyone else. He has defeated Nadal twice in the French Open and all three clay court Masters events.
The tennis world will surely be missing the duo together on the court already, but Novak Djokovic has already set out with new coach Andy Murray to try and claim back his crown against the young guns Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. His first attempt of extending his lead of Grand Slams will start next month in the Australian Open.
