Andy Murray picks who he would most like to coach out of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

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Andy Murray has taken up coaching following his retirement from tennis in 2024.

During his tennis career, Murray won three Grand Slam titles and reached world number one, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest British athletes in history.

After struggling with injuries for several years, Murray retired from tennis in 2024 following the Olympic Games in Paris.

It was unclear what the ATP Tour legend would do next, although his plans became clear ahead of the 2025 season.

Murray joined Novak Djokovic’s coaching team for the Australian Open tournament, as he looked to help the Serb win a record-extending 11th title at Melbourne Park.

They were unable to do so, however, as Djokovic retired during his semi-final match with Alexander Zverev, having picked up an injury against Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.

Murray will continue working alongside Djokovic for the foreseeable, although he has now revealed which tennis legend he would prefer to coach.

Andy Murray would rather coach Roger Federer than Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal

Appearing as a guest on the Sporting Misadventures with Chris Hoy podcast, Murray was asked who he would most like to coach out of Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

“I think probably Roger [Federer] because he is able to do so much with the tennis ball, you have so many options,” he said.

“I think coaching Roger would have been fun because he has so much natural, don’t like that so much, he looks like it’s natural.

“He works extremely hard, but he just had all of the shots.

“So you would be able to ask him to do something, and he could do it, essentially.”

Murray did, however, admit that the same could be said for Djokovic, who he coached in Australia earlier this year.

“To be fair, Novak [Djokovic] was really good with this as well and it’s one of the reasons why it doesn’t really matter who’s coaching those guys, providing you’re giving them clear direction, because they’re so great,” he said.

“Lots of people can come up with that, anyone who’s got a good tennis knowledge would be able to do that, but not all of their players can execute what you’re asking them to do.”

The Brit then explained how well Djokovic followed his instructions during the Australian Open.

“That was the thing for me with Novak that was amazing,” said Murray.

“In a couple of the matches, I gave him the strategy that I thought would work and would be beneficial and the way that he was able to execute that and do exactly what’s being asked because of his technical abilities.

“The way that he strikes the tennis ball, the way that he moves on the court and just has no weaknesses, is [why] they’re able to execute a game plan better than anyone else because they’re so skillful.”

Did Andy Murray win more matches against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, or Rafael Nadal?

For a while, Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Murray became known as the ‘big four’ thanks to their consistent appearances at the latter stages of Major tournaments.

Over time, the ‘big four’ became three, as the Serb, Swiss, and Spaniard stormed ahead in Grand Slam wins, taking home 24, 20, and 22, respectively compared to Murray’s three.

However, that’s not to say that the British star didn’t secure some big wins over the trio during his time on tour.

Murray interestingly enjoyed the most success against Federer, the man who he would pick to coach over both Djokovic and Nadal.

The three-time Major champion won 11 of his 25 encounters with the Swiss phenom, including one at the final of the Olympic Games in 2012.

Having lost to Federer in the Wimbledon final just a few months earlier, Murray returned to Centre Court with his sights firmly set on the Gold medal.

Murray won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, as he won the first of his two Gold medals in front of an adoring home crowd.

He may have ‘lost’ the head-to-head with Federer, as he did against Djokovic and Nadal, but he certainly picked his moments, as he beat three of the greatest players in the history of the sport on several occasions.