Photo credit: William West/AFP/Getty
The trip is over for the Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray partnership.
Grand Slam king Djokovic announced he has split from his coach of six months in a social media post today.
"Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court," Djokovic said. "I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together."
Working with two-time Olympic gold-medal champion Murray, reigning gold-medal champion Djokovic posted a 12-7 record, reached the Australian Open semifinals where he retired with a torn leg muscle against Alexander Zverev, but fell short in his quest for a title.
Murray, who was born a week apart from Djokovic, said from the start he wanted the 37-year-old Serbian superstar to express himself openly on court—and he expected to feel stress in the coaching box. The man nicknamed Muzzah doesn't want to muzzle Djokovic's emotional intensity.
"Obviously I expect when the matches start it's stressful," Murray said days before the start of Melbourne. "When you’re trying to achieve great things it’s not easy.
"But the rewards at the end of it can be great and that’s something I’m looking forward (to)."
Working with Murray, Djokovic reached the Miami Open final where he had a shot for his 100th career championship but lost to 19-year-old Jakub Mensik. Overall, Djokovic posted a 25-11 record against his rival and ex-coach Murray.
Asked in January how he felt the partnership would work, Hall of Famer John McEnroe told Tennis Now he thought Djokovic's performance in Melbourne would be key to their future.
"This thing with Murray and Djokovic, especially if Djokovic wins Australia, then it would be like, wow, this is incredible," McEnroe told Tennis Now in January. "I'm sure he'd be flooded with coaching requests, or maybe they'd stick with him for the rest of the year.
"To me, if it doesn't work out, let's say Djokovic loses in the quarters or semis and then they decide not to continue, would Murray want to coach someone else. So that would be the questions I would have.
"I remember years ago when Murray decided to work with my old rival, Ivan Lendl, I was in Australia and someone said to me, did you hear Murray is hiring Ivan Lendl, and I was like, oh, my God, that's actually going to work. But Murray is 37, and Ivan is a year younger than me. So you can understand that.
"But this one, when they're like a week apart and rivals, it's pretty amazing."
The 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who has not won a clay-court match this season, accepted a wild card into next week's Geneva tournament.
Djokovic continues his quest for both a 100th career crown as well as his record-extending 25th major championship at Roland Garros this month.
Djokovic is seeking his first title since he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Paris Olympics final last August.