The least surprising news of the week is that the coaching partnership between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic has come to an end.
What is surprising, though, is that it’s come to an end at this moment in time.
When the pair, who have 27 grand slam titles between them, paired up it was, it’s fair to say, something of a shock.
Murray had hung up his own racquet only three months earlier and Djokovic was, it seemed, relatively happy with his existing coaching set-up.
The reverberations of the announcement of one of the most star-studded partnerships the sport had ever seen was, unsurprisingly, significant. There had been much speculation about Murray's post-tennis life and although coaching had been touted as a possibility, few had expected his move into the coaching sphere to come quite so soon, or with such a high profile player.
The potential of the most successful player of all time in Djokovic, and one of the game’s great tacticians in Murray joining up was considerable.
That potential, however, failed to turn into results. Djokovic went into the 2025 Australian Open looking for his eleventh title in Melbourne. Despite a glorious defeat of Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, the title was a step too far, with Djokovic withdrawing mid-way through his semi-final.
His withdrawal was the disappointing but what was far more disappointing was the lack of apparent fire in Djokovic's belly in that semi-final match.
Djokovic is renowned for the never-say-die attitude he’s developed in the second half of his career and for it to be so obviously lacking would surely have been of considerable concern to Murray as he sat courtside.
The lacklustre performances by Djokovic continued post-Australian Open, with the early tournament exits far outnumbering the lone good run he had to the final of the Miami Masters in March.
As each poor result was notched up, so too the likelihood increased that Murray and Djokovic’s partnership would not last.
And so it turned out.
On Tuesday both players put messages on their social media, thanking the other and giving the impression the split has been entirely amicable.
For Djokovic, his immediate future is clear; he will head to Roland Garros looking for a fourth French Open title, but it seems certain his primary target for the year is Wimbledon, where Djokovic is most likely to one last grand slam title to his CV.
It’s Murray's future which is considerably less certain.
There are the obvious things with which Murray will fill his time, most notably his family, and playing golf which, in the immediate aftermath of his retirement he seemed entirely content with.
His longer-term future, though, is far less clear.
Despite his coaching partnership with Djokovic turning out to be little more than a damp squib, it’s inconceivable that Murray’s coaching sojourn will amount to a few months with the Serb and nothing more. So I’m certain this is not the last we've seen of Andy Murray the coach.
What is far less clear is when he will return, and with who.
But as the year progresses and the season comes to an end, there will be more than a few players taking a serious look at adding Murray to their coaching team.
The British players are the most obvious choices for Murray to team-up with.
There's Jack Draper who has become Murray successor. The English man is up to fifth in the world rankings and having found a run of fitness for the first time in quite some while, he’s now competing with the world’s very best. Murray and Draper know each other well from their time as Davis Cup teammates and the pair seem to have a good rapport. Murray has gone through everything Draper has ahead of him, from negotiating the latter stages of grand slams to dealing with the pressure of the British media and public. Murray would be invaluable in terms of the advice he could give Draper. And that's before the Scot even has any tennis input. But Draper has an extremely settled coaching team and it's one which has turned him into a truly world-class player. Tinkering with that would certainly be a risk for Draper, even considering the fact it would be Murray who would be the addition.
Then there’s Emma Raducanu. The calls from tennis observers for Murray to coach Raducanu have been loud but in reality the prospect of it happening seems close to zero.
Firstly, there's the coach retention problem that Raducanu clearly has, with her inability to stick with any coach for any considerable length of time having become a running joke within the tennis world. That kind of uncertainty is something Murray, given he doesn't need to be a coach at all, could do without.
And there's the animosity that was caused between the pair last summer when Raducanu withdrew last minute from their mixed doubles match at Wimbledon in what would have been Murray's last game ever at the All England Club.
There's Jacob Fearnley, the fast rising Scot. Fearnley has produced a quite remarkable improvement in recent months and is now sitting pretty at 57th in the world. The 23-year-old has made progress that few predicted and, of course, with both being Scottish it's a nice angle but ultimately one that likely will not be enough of a pull for Murray.
That leaves, then, the players outwith Britain. I can't see Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz inviting Murray to join their team.
What I can see though, is a bus load of players one notch down from Sinner and Alcaraz scrambling to secure Murray’s services.
When Murray began working with Djokovic, I wrote in these pages that the Scot is a fabulous addition to any tennis player’s armoury. That belief still stands.
My money is on Murray, in time, teaming up with a young prospect like João Fonseca or Jakub Mensik. Both are still teenagers, have a voracious appetite for hard work and have the potential to compete regularly for grand slam titles.
Indeed, watching Murray embark on a coaching journey with a young player such as either of this pair would tell us far more abut his coaching abilities than his time with Djokovic ever did.
I can’t predict exactly what Murray’s next move will be. But one thing I’m sure of is we’ll see him return to the coaching box very soon.
