‘My theory is…’ – John McEnroe tips Andy Murray for shock retirement U-turn thanks to sneaky Novak Djokovic tactic
JOHN MCENROE has tipped Andy Murray to make a U-turn on his decision to retire.
The Scot, 37, ended his glittering career with an emotional goodbye at the Olympic Games in the summer.
But the two-time Wimbledon champion then shocked the tennis world when he announced he would be joining Novak Djokovic’s coaching setup.
Murray will be in the Serbian’s box as the 24-time Grand Slam winner faces Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round of the Australian Open tomorrow morning.
On the surprise link-up, legend McEnroe told Eurosport: “The coaching situation between Murray and Djokovic, it’s fun but it’s got to be one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard.
“I remember being in Australia and hearing that Andy Murray was being coached by Ivan Lendl, my great rival and nemesis from way back when.
“I thought about it and said, ‘Oh my God, this is going to work’. But there is a big age gap.
“There’s a one week age gap between Novak and Andy and he just stopped playing.
“My theory is, Andy’s going to coach Novak for the next couple of months, and then he is going to find out everything he needs to know about how to beat Djokovic and then he’s coming back.”
Former British No1 Tim Henman added: “It’s such early days, they have only had a few weeks to practice and straight into a Grand Slam.
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“It’ll be interesting to see how Djokovic plays and if Murray has any impact on his game, and see how the relationship evolves.
“I don’t think I’ve got any of those answers, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Murray’s move to join forces with Djokovic has been slammed by some, including world No34 Alexander Bublik.
The outspoken Kazakh star said: “These are attempts to grasp at something that no longer exists, to some echoes of the past. I think this is a problem.”
He also hit out at Murray and Rafael Nadal for not hanging up their rackets sooner, saying: “I want to leave at the peak. It is clear that I am not Rafa, my legacy will be much smaller, if it can be called such.
“What happened to Andy 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.”
Andy Murray's career timeline
SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era.
After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year.
In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012.
Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court.
But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final.
In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title.
Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open.
But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic.
He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro.
Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 – the first British man to do so in history.
Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson).
He finishes his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings.
His final match was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-final of the men’s doubles at Roland Garros to USA pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.