Earlier this year, Novak Djokovic stunned one and all after he joined hands with his rival, Andy Murray. The latter, who had retired after the Paris Olympics last season, worked with Djokovic toward the start of the 2025 season. The Serb had a decent start to his season where he reached the last four of the Australian Open but had to withdraw midway through his semifinal match due to an injury. As Djokovic sets his sights on a comeback, there is some movement in his backroom staff.

Following Djokovic’s exit at the Australian Open, discussions began between Murray and him about whether they were to extend their partnership. Earlier, it was decided that they would join hands for a brief period and decide the further course of action based on the results. However, it is known that the talks are still underway and they could potentially team up again for the Indian Wells Masters next month.

With Djokovic set to make a comeback at the Qatar Open and Murray not present, Djokovic has appointed former Spanish pro, Fernando Verdasco as his trainer. The news was confirmed by Sportklub’s Vojin Velickovic, who reported, “Verdasco did tell me that Novak will first train with him when he takes the court at the Khalifa Stadium today, but someone googled it wrong on the translator and ‘translated’ that it means that the Spaniard will be his coach here.”

The Spaniard retired back in 2023 and has trained the likes of Abdullah Shelbayh and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before. However, Verdasco will be with Djokovic just for the Qatar Open in the role of his trainer, with a decision on Murray yet to be taken. Interestingly, Verdasco spends time in Doha and is well-acclimatized with the conditions. He was waiting for the players to arrive and took to Instagram to share his pictures from the tournament. “Enjoying every moment. And very special people are about to arrive in #Doha,” he wrote. Amid these reports, Andy Murray shared honest feedback about coaching Djokovic at the Australian Open.

Andy Murray on coaching Novak Djokovic: ‘Found it very demanding’

It was the first time that Andy Murray donned the coach’s hat after his retirement last year. As a result, coaching a player of Djokovic’s stature first-up was never going to be an easy task. While Murray did have a good time coaching Djokovic, he also had some downsides in this role.

During an interview, he said, “I enjoyed certain parts of it. I enjoyed the matches. I liked sitting at the side watching matches from a different perspective. I enjoyed the analysis and preparing and planning, the strategy, and everything. I really liked that, but I also found it very demanding. I’m obviously very inexperienced as a coach, so there’s lots of things that when you’re a player, you don’t realize that coaches are thinking about and having to do.”

It remains to be seen if Djokovic and Murray are seen together once again. However, for now, Djokovic has Verdasco by his side and will look to win his first title of the season in Doha next week.