MELBOURNE, Jan 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Andy Murray says he is ready to be on the
receiving end of Novak Djokovic's ire in pressure moments at the Australian
Open, with the "unique opportunity" to coach him worth it.

The Serbian 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic made the shock decision to
hire Murray in November, just months after the Scot called time on his
playing career.

In his first comments since then, fellow former number one Murray, who has
known Djokovic since their junior playing days, said the call came out of the
blue.

"I said to him: 'Look, I need to think about it and talk to my family,'" the
BBC quoted Murray as saying.

"So I spoke to them and after a couple of days I thought that it was a pretty
unique opportunity and experience.

"I thought it would be a good idea to try it."

Murray is himself a three-time major winner -- and five-time finalist in
Australia -- with both players members of the so-called "Big Four", along
with Rafael Nadal, who retired last year, and Roger Federer, who left the
sport in 2022.

Djokovic and Murray faced each other 36 times in their careers with the Serb
winning 25 of them.

Nineteen of those clashes came in finals, with both men known for sounding
off at their box in pressure moments.

This time it could be Murray on the receiving end.

"I know it's not easy out there -- it's stressful and at times he's going to
want to vent towards his team and his box," said Murray.

"Providing that he's giving his best effort and trying as hard as he can, I'm
absolutely fine with him expressing himself how he wants."

With Djokovic chasing an 11th Australian Open title and record 25th major,
Murray made clear he was not in town for a holiday.

"At times it's very enjoyable. But high performance is not supposed to be
laughs and jokes and messing around," he said.

"In all the times I've been on tour, I haven't seen that from any of the best
players in the world.

"I've seen it from some of the lower-ranked players, and that's one of the
reasons why they're not there."