“There was zero reason,” Andy Roddick accuses Novak Djokovic of ruining Rafael Nadal’s farewell with Andy Murray announcement
Andy Roddick questioned the timings of Novak Djokovic’s announcement that Andy Murray would be his coach just after Rafael Nadal’s retirement.
Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal (Images via X)
Rafael Nadal retired on November 19th and on November 23rd, the tennis community had something else to talk about. Novak Djokovic stunned everyone by announcing that he will be coached by Andy Murray at the Australian Open.
That Murray, just a few months after retirement would be back on tour and as a coach of his old rival Djokovic was not at all anticipated. Andy Roddick was shocked as well, but he thinks Djokovic’s announcement stirred the tennis world, and the discussion that was about Nadal’s retirement and his legacy died down a bit.
I don’t think it’s a vanity project. Hey, listen, is the attention fun? Is the buzz fun? Is it fun to know that you can create a s**tstorm in the tennis world and override any storyline? Oh, oh, oh! Rafa retired this weekend? Should we dominate the headlines at the end of that week?’ There was zero reason why this needed to be announced. Zero.
Andy Roddick said on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast
The discussion indeed was mostly about the shocking news. Roddick didn’t like the timing of the announcement, suggesting that Djokovic and Murray could have waited.
Juan Martin del Potro lauds Novak Djokovic ahead of his farewell match
Juan Martin del Potro, ahead of his farewell match at an exhibition event in Buenos Aires, thanked Novak Djokovic for accepting to play the match. The Argentine officially retired in 2022 due to his knee injury.
The injury was responsible for completely ruining the 36-year-old’s career as he hasn’t completely recovered from it and suffers pain in his daily life.
Del Potro doesn’t like to recall his final match as he was crying a lot. He wanted to play another match, at an exhibition event, so that he could say a proper farewell. Djokovic during a dinner agreed to play and Del Potro was moved and had nothing but praise for the 37-year-old.
Having Djokovic ome is the most beautiful reward I could have. I have a very warm, very human relationship with him and he is the one who always offers himself for these crazy things. He quickly replied that he was counting on me and that we were going to put on a good show.
Djokovic has already landed in Argentina and upon reaching there, he awarded the Copa Libertadores trophy to Brazilian football club Botafogo.
