Djokovic admits sharing tennis secrets with new coach Murray feels ‘strange’

Novak Djokovic admits it has been “strange” to have Andy Murray working as his coach but believes he will benefit from one of his greatest rivals taking a “fresh look” at his game.

The 24-time grand-slam winner also spoke of his frustration at being “kept in the dark” over Jannik Sinner’s doping case, accusing the game’s authorities of double standards and a lack of transparency.

Murray, who retired after this summer’s Olympics at the age of 37, made the shock decision to join Djokovic’s team in November and recently spent 10 days with the Serbian in preparation for the new season. Although Murray is not with Djokovic for this week’s Brisbane International, the British two-time Wimbledon champion will join him in Melbourne for training before the Australian Open.

“Being on the same side of the net is actually great for a change because he’s been one of my greatest rivals,” Djokovic said on the ATP website. “In a way it was strange for me to share all these kinds of insights about how I feel on the court, sharing some of the secrets of what I’m going through, what I’m thinking about, how I see my game with somebody that has been always one of the top rivals.

“But I’m so glad and very thankful that he has accepted to work with me here in Australia. The 10 days that we spent together were terrific. I enjoyed every bit of it. He’s very meticulous, he’s very dedicated, so professional. He has a unique perspective on my game as one of the greatest rivals that I’ve had. He knows the pros and cons of my game.

“He has also played up to recently on the tour, so he knows all the other best players currently in the world, the youngsters and the weaknesses and strengths in their game. So I look forward to it, I really do.

“I think he’s bringing a fresh look to my game and I think I’ll be able to benefit from that, no doubt, on the tennis court. But also that kind of champion’s mentality that he has, I’m sure that we’ll match very well.”

Djokovic will partner Nick Kyrgios in the doubles in Brisbane and has joined the Australian in hitting out at the handling of positive doping tests for Sinner and Iga Swiatek.

1:12 Djokovic argues Sinner doping case is 'not helping' tennis – video

It was announced in August that Sinner had failed two doping tests in March but was cleared of fault, while in November Swiatek was handed a one-month ban for a failed test caused by contaminated medication.

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“It’s not a good image, not a good look for our sport,” Djokovic told Sky Sports. “I believe that in the last 20-plus years that I’ve been playing on the professional tour that we’ve been one of the cleanest sports. I’m just questioning the way the system works really and why certain players are not treated the same like the other players. The issue is the inconsistency, the transparency.

“We’ve been kept in the dark with Jannik’s case. I’m not questioning whether he took the banned substance intentionally or not. I believe in the clean sport, I believe the player will do everything possible to be playing fair and I’ve known Jannik since he was very young – he doesn’t strike me as somebody that would so such a thing. But I’ve been really frustrated, as most of the players [have], to see that we’ve been kept in the dark for five months.”

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