Novak Djokovic has described his new coaching partnership with former rival Andy Murray as “strange” but “terrific”, ahead of their first tournament working together.

The pair joined forces late this year ahead of the first Grand Slam of 2025, the Australian Open, which Djokovic has won a record 10 times.

After what he described as a season of “more ups and downs”, the 37-year-old is keen for more consistency at the highest level in 2025, with Murray brought in to add a new edge to his game as he seeks to keep pace with younger competitors.

“In a way it was strange for me to share all these kinds of insights about how I feel on the court, sharing some of the secrets of what I’m going through, what I’m thinking about, how I see my game with somebody that has been always one of the top rivals.

“But I’m so glad and very thankful that he has accepted to work with me here in Australia.”

“The 10 days that we spent together were terrific,” Djokovic added. “I enjoyed every bit of it. He’s very meticulous, he’s very dedicated, so professional.

“It doesn’t surprise me because I’ve known him so many years as a player. He has a unique perspective on my game as one of the greatest rivals that I’ve had. He knows the pros and cons of my game.

“He has also played up till recently on the tour, so he knows all the other best players currently in the world, the youngsters and the weaknesses and strengths in their game.”

The 24-time major winner played a reduced schedule this year, focusing on winning at the Paris Olympics, which he achieved. Other than that, it was a comparatively barren year, with Paris gold his only title, and a 37-9 win-loss record which saw him drop to seventh in the world.

Reflecting on 2024, Djokovic said, “Overall, I’ve had more losses and ups and downs in this season than previous seasons, so I’m looking for a good start to the season.

“I’m planning to play a bit more tournaments this year than I did last season. Hopefully, also the level is going to go up and as a consequence, I will be able to hopefully win a few tournaments and get my ranking higher.”

One of the major stories of the 2024 season has been multiple high-profile doping cases, including those involving both the men’s and women’s world No. 1, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, the latter having since fallen to second in the world.

He said: “[It’s] not a good look for our sport. I believe that in the last 20-plus years that I’ve been playing we’ve been one of the cleanest sports. I will keep on believing in that clean sport.

“I’m just questioning the way the system works, really, why certain players are not treated the same like other players. The issue is the inconsistency, the transparency.”

Referring to Sinner’s case, Djokovic did not question the Italian’s integrity, but called for a level playing field.

“We’ve been kept in the dark with Jannik’s case,” Djokovic said. “I believe that the player will do everything possible to play fair. But I’ve been really frustrated, as most of the other players, to see that we’ve been kept in the dark for five months.”