Since SirAndy Murray retired in August of last year, I’m sure journalists everywhere have been champing at the bit to find out what the former number one tennis player has been up to.
And while I was very much eager to find this out myself when I got the chance to interview the almighty athlete, there was something else that I needed to get his thoughts on: Challengers.
“I didn’t really understand it. But I think that’s me maybe not having that artistic, creative sort of mind and it wasn’t really what I expected,” Murray admitted.
“Obviously I’ve played tennis on the tour, and kind of know what it’s like, and it wasn’t what I’ve experienced,” he revealed.
What, do you mean you to say you haven’t had an erotic/competitive/toxic relationship with at least one of tennis’ big three (Djokovic, Nadal and Federer)??
“Maybe for some of the other players, they’ve had a different experience to me, but that was not my experience of being a tennis player, so I didn’t quite relate to it as much, and was a bit confused at the end.
“But it got amazing reviews though — the movie. So I had a high expectations going in, and then it was just different to what I expected.”
I also asked who he would recreate that churro scene and disappointingly he couldn’t think of anyone in particular. No Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) to his obvious Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), unfortunately.
“There’s definitely some pretty intense rivalries in the locker room, but they’re more to do with tennis, not so much with a woman at the heart of it.”
I was personally disappointed that he didn’t say Novak Djokovic, but now that Murray is coaching Djokovic, maybe Andy is actually more of a Tashi (Zendaya) in this situation.
In November, 2024, Andy Murray announced that he was part of Djokovic’s coaching team for this year’s Australian Open.
Murray opened up about his new position and has been pleasantly surprised by his relationship with Djokovic on the court.
“It’s been different, it’s a pretty unusual and sort of unique situation,” he told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
Although he hasn’t been in the coaching gig for long, Murray believes he has an edge that will help his former rival.
“I would have a great understanding of what it’s like to play against him, a better understanding of his strengths and weaknesses than most people and most experienced coaches would. So there’s certain aspects that I definitely feel like I can help him with. It’s been good, been interesting,” Murray explained.
“That’s probably the one thing that’s maybe surprised me a little bit about about him — not that there hasn’t been clash. It’s just more the communication and the openness. He wants a lot of input.”
Apparently, Djokovic is quite the chatterbox on court. “He wants you to ask him lots of questions when he’s on the court, he wants to hear your opinion. He doesn’t listen to everything that I say or agrees with everything that I say, but he wants dialogue and a lot of communication,” Murray said.
So far, there haven’t been any Challengers-style dramatics between the two, but Murray’s keeping it real: “I’m sure they will come.”
We love a realistic king.
Well, Andy, maybe if you’d shared that churro with Novak back in the day, you wouldn’t be so confused by Challengers now. Just saying. But hey, at least you’re not as confused as the rest of us trying to understand the ATP rankings system, right?
Anyways, I enjoyed asking Sir Andy Murray the important questions for you all. You’re welcome.
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