Djokovic's Doha Loss Not Concerning According To Former Olympic Silver Medalist
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Novak Djokovic's high-profile coaching collaboration with Andy Murray will continue for at least the next few months, and former WTA player Laura Robson thinks that is great for the sport. She also does not believe Djokovic is concerned by his loss at the 2025 Qatar Open.
After appointing Murray as his coach during the off-season, they worked together for the first time at the 2025 Australian Open. Although Djokovic had to retire in the semifinal because of an injury, the pair seemed to strike an impressive connection.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion pointedly embraced Murray after his quarterfinal victory against Carlos Alcaraz and spoke in glowing terms about his former rival's impact since joining the team.
Murray did not join Djokovic at the 2025 Qatar Open, where he lost in the opening round to Matteo Berrettini, but the Serbian announced that the two-time Olympic gold medalist will stay on his team indefinitely, starting with next month's Sunshine Double.
Speaking to Eurosport, Robson expressed excitement about the news and thinks the initial delay in announcing Murray's continued involvement was because of the Briton having four children at home to think about.
"Andy, for sure, doesn't want to do long stints at a time away from home when he literally just retired a few months ago. I imagine that it took some effort to work out amongst themselves and also their agents, I'm sure."
"But just the positive is that he's back and wanting to continue, because I know from seeing Andy on the courts in Australia, he was really excited at the prospect of hanging around and being together again and was just sinking his teeth into it and getting invested in the tactics."
"You could see from the side of the court how much he wanted Novak to win. So to carry it on, I think it is really cool for tennis to have that storyline ongoing."
Robson also does not think Djokovic will dwell for long on his defeat to Berrettini at the Qatar Open. Instead, she argues he can feel optimistic about returning to the court so quickly after his injury at the Australian Open to focus on winning an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam.
"I think that's the main positive for Novak, the fact that he's feeling healthy on the court, again. The way that he finished in Australia. I'm sure it would have been tough for him to reset because he was playing some of his best tennis against Alcaraz, and then a couple of days later, it doesn't go his way."
"So just at his age, to be able to rebound as quickly as he has, I think is a huge positive sign. I don't know that he is overly bothered about losing early in Doha when you consider all the tournaments that he's won and all his accolades in his career."
"I don't know that he'll take much time to get over this one. So I imagine he's spoken about it in the past, that he really wants to focus on the fact that he wants to get to 25, and that's the big goal for this year rather than a small ATP event in the Middle East."
Although Djokovic returned to tournament action quickly, worrying footage emerged of him limping while walking to the airport in Doha. Hopefully, it is not a severe injury that hampers his chances of being fit for next month's 2025 Indian Wells Open.
