Sir Andy Murray has been accused of living in the past, with his decision to coach Novak Djokovic described as “grasping at something that no longer exists” in a bizarre outburst from a rival player.
Alexander Bublik, from Kazakhstan, also took aim at Rafael Nadal and his retirement, labelling him ‘bald and old’.
Murray called time on his playing career at the Paris Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-finals alongside doubles partner Dan Evans. Nadal also retired in 2024 to leave Djokovic as the only member of the sport’s ‘big four’ still standing.
Murray has since returned to tennis and began coaching his former rival Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open, an opportunity that seemed enticing enough to tempt him back into the fold. Although the decision has been criticised by world No 33 Bublik.
“Now [Murray] has joined Novak Djokovic’s team,” he said in an interview with Match TV. “These are attempts to grasp at something that no longer exists, to some echoes of the past. I think this is a problem.”
At the November Davis Cup finals in Malaga, Nadal gave a speech and was memorialised in a video montage of his achievements as he bowed out from the game in front of a sold-out home crowd.
“It is clear that I am not Rafa, my legacy will be much smaller, if it can be called such,” Bublik said. “What happened to Andy Murray and Rafa was a circus.
“I can’t call it anything else. People have achieved everything, even we tennis players looked at them with our mouths open in the locker room – and then you see one of them bald and old.
“It is clear that he is no longer the same and will never be the same. In my opinion, this is even a shame, not a circus. Probably, it would be more correct to say so. Although Rafa still left normally.”
For Murray and Djokovic, who were born a fortnight apart in 1987, their next combined challenge will be the Australian Open, a tournament at which the Serbian won all five of the meetings between the pair.
But in 2025, Djokovic’s ruthlessness and domination has come under threat, outstripped at the majors by the new generation in world No 1 Jannik Sinner and reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic traumatised by Australian deportation
For Djokovic, Australia also holds another source of anxiety. In 2022 he was deported for his refusal to receive the Covid 19 vaccination, and flying to Melbourne remains a source of stress.
“I have to be quite frank,” Djokovic said in an interview with Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.
“The last couple of times I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration – I had a bit of trauma from three years ago.
“And some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is approaching.
“The person checking my passport – are they going to take me, detain me again or let me go? I must admit I have that feeling.”
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