Andy Murray ironically has said this past week that he will ponder a return to the coaching game after his surprise but ill fated in the end stint with a certain Novak Djokovic.
Murray was coached by Djokovic for a time after the latter split with Goran Ivanisevic in a partnership highly touted due to the sum of their parts being so legendary. But while Murray put the brakes on potentially restarting coaching yet and has since been at home with his family or playing golf, others see him as a solution.
But a solution in Riccardo Piatti’s case, who used to coach Sinner to the former World No.1, is likely to lose a certain Darren Cahill at some point in the near future. Cahill decided to stay on for another year after stating his intention to retire before, but while that is the case, he, of course, must have had designs to leave the sport if he curtailed it just for now.
“Look, coaching a world number one or two is stressful,” said the 67-year-old to Corriere della Sera. “It means revolving your life around the player’s needs: it’s not a vacation. I think Darren will retire because he wants to do something else, but I honestly don’t know.”
Asked if he thinks someone like Andre Agassi even could coach him, he pointed instead to another icon of the sport who has recent coaching experience.
“Hmm, I don’t think so. I’d see Andy Murray as a good fit: intelligent, experienced, solid.
“In 2021, in Stockholm, he defeated a young Sinner in straight sets. After the match, I went to talk to Andy; I would have signed him right away, but he had decided to keep playing, damn it.”
Murray has said recently that he will want coaching again at some point. The Brit said that he wants a lower level task though ala when Goran Ivanisevic ironically left Djokovic but he of course coached Rybakina, Tsitsipas and now Fils so all quite high profile.
“I think at some stage I probably would (consider a return to coaching),” Murray told The Athletic.
“My priorities are lying elsewhere just now, but I would do it again in the future. I do like the idea of helping a much younger player, a little bit like — not that I would expect it to turn out like this — the (Juan Carlos) Ferrero-(Carlos) Alcaraz relationship. A younger player that you’re really able to help and have a really positive influence on. I would find something like that quite interesting but certainly not right now.”
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