Jessica Pegula thinks Andy Murray's curiosity to see how Novak Djokovic functions may have played a role in the Briton agreeing to coach the Serb, before also revealing that she overheard one of their conversations and the British former world No. 1 talking with the record 24-time Grand Slam champion about court positioning at the Australian Open.
Around this time 12 months ago, the tennis world was sent into a frenzy after Djokovic and Murray uploaded a selfie together on social media and announced that they had formed a team for 2025. It came just four months after Murray - one of the Serbian tennis giant's biggest rivals - retired from pro tennis.
To no one's surprise, their partnership became one of the main storylines going into the 2025 Australian Open as everybody wanted to see how that one would work.
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Pegula: I think Murray was curious to see how Djokovic works, what makes him tick
"I think he was curious. Like: 'How does Novak work? What makes him tick?' Its such rare inside access," Pegula said on The Player's Box podcast.
"I saw them at Australia, Novak was on the bike and Andy was talking about court positioning and I was like, 'What could they possibly be talking about? Novak does everything well.' But Id want to see everything too. Like: 'How does he recover? What does he do behind the scenes? How is he still so good?' If youre Andy, you want to know all of it."
Djokovic and Murray's collaboration started with a bang after the 38-year-old Serb defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open. But then, it quickly went south after the Serb sustained an unfortunate hamstring injury - retired in the Australian Open semifinal - and then also lost his next two matches.
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In the end, Djokovic and Murray lasted for only five months as the Serb decided to call time on their partnership just before the French Open.
