Djokovic building bond with Murray over golf, dinners

Novak Djokovic said working with coach Andy Murray still felt a bit surreal but it offered him the opportunity to finally build a personal relationship with the Scot after their long rivalry on court.

Djokovic, a 24-times Grand Slam champion, appointed fellow former world number one Murray ahead of this year’s Australian Open and said at the Qatar Open they would continue working together for an indefinite period

The duo reunited during hardcourt tournaments in the United States and, after reaching the Miami Open quarterfinals on Tuesday, Djokovic said he was grateful to have Murray on board

“We shared the same stage, so to say, and were on the tour for a very long time and know each other for 20-25 years since the junior days,” Djokovic told Sky Sports.

“But obviously when you’re rivals you don’t interact as much and actually as we were waiting for matches to restart after the rain today we had a very interesting talk.

“I’ve always had tremendous respect for Andy, as a player, but now even more so as a person. He’s such a nice guy and I’m really grateful he cares about me doing well on the court.”

Djokovic won 25 of his 36 matches against Murray and said he was still getting used to having the Briton in his corner.

“It’s still surreal that one of my biggest rivals is my coach, and he’s fist-bumping and jumping around in the box,” Djokovic said.

“Sometimes I pinch myself and ask myself ‘is this real? Is this a dream?’ but it’s great.

“We’re trying to get the most out of this relationship of player and coach and also to spend some quality time together. Miami has been good. We were here early, almost a week before the tournament started.

“We played some golf, we enjoyed some dinners together and we’re having fun.”

Djokovic won 12 of the last 14 games of his match against Lorenzo Musetti to crush the Italian 6-2 6-2 and move into the quarterfinals in Miami.

Next up for fourth-seeded Djokovic is American Sebastian Korda, who prevailed 6-4 2-6 6-4 over veteran Frenchman Gael Monfils earlier in the day.

Korda lost a thrilling three-setter to 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic in their only previous meeting in the Adelaide final in 2023.

Argentine Francisco Cerundolo upset three-times major finalist Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2 to reach the quarterfinal of the tournament for the third time in four years.

Cerundolo never faced a break as he pummeled the fifth-seeded Norwegian with six aces and 21 winners, setting up a meeting with 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated home hope Brandon Nakashima 6-4 7-5.

On the women’s side, Italian sixth-seed Jasmine Paolini saved seven of the eight break points she faced to defeat Magda Linette and reach the semi-finals.

Paolini will next face world number one and first-time Miami semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka, who beat China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-2 7-5 in a rematch of their 2024 Australian Open final.

“Always tough battles against her,” Sabalenka said after extending her head-to-head record against Zheng to 6-0.

“Today I had to work really hard, especially in that second set. I’m really proud of the way I handled my emotions.

“Even when something didn’t work well, I was there and I was fighting for every point.”