In our exclusive interview, the tennis broadcaster discusses Andy Murray parting ways with Novak Djokovic and the Serb's chances of adding to his Grand Slam total.
Andrew Castle believes Novak Djokovic can add to his record total of 24 Grand Slam titles, with Wimbledon offering him the best chance to land his 25th.
Djokovic is behind Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in this year’s Wimbledon odds but the 37-year-old has won at SW19 seven times and could pull level with Roger Federer on eight wins – the most ever – this summer.
In our exclusive interview, the broadcaster and former player also discusses Djokovic’s recent decision to part ways with Andy Murray as his coach.
Does the abrupt end of Andy Murray’s partnership with Novak Djokovic suggest Novak doesn’t believe Andy is a top-drawer coach?
I don’t see it as a coaching relationship. I don’t see those types of relationships. I see it as support and somebody who has been in the trenches as well and understands what is needed. Novak may need an observation now and again and you might say something along the lines of ‘you’re 37 now and need to get to the ball earlier on a rally because you don’t cover the courts as quickly as you did’. That’s a truth, so there could be observations like that. The tactical nous that Andy had was unbelievable so there can be a little bit of that, and no doubt that was a plus. That was what I would see as those relationships, but it’s certainly not the same type of coaching as going down the club and getting the club pro to take me through some techniques.
Do you think some of Djokovic’s motivation has gone since he clinched Olympic gold last year?
He’s 37 years old and is playing against a bunch of younger people a lot of the time, and has been doing it since 2003 and even before then. I was watching the Roger Federer documentary Twelve Final Days and I was struck by Roger’s observations of what he thinks Novak did, and how he underestimated him to a certain degree when they played at Monte Carlo in 2006. I don’t think he quite gave Novak the credit that perhaps he deserved. Now, for me, Novak is the greatest player of all time. If you wanted somebody playing for your life, it would be Rafa on clay, Roger or Novak on the grass, and Novak on the hard court. It’s ridiculous how good they have been.
Here’s Novak having been through this phenomenal career – it’s a lot easier to be useless than brilliant. Who wouldn’t be proud of being a top 100 player, top 50 or top 10, whatever it is, and you soak up a lot of the experiences travelling around the world making a lot of money – it’s great. But Novak has found depths that were harder than that, and that’s exhausting. It may not be the most popular explanation, but he may just be tired out. I know what it is like to get a little older and your energy depletes. The reality for him is that it is coming to an end. Does he have another great half a season in him or another three or four Grand Slams? He probably does. But he’s only won 12 matches this year and has lost seven, which is ridiculous.
There’s a lot of speculation online and tennis world nonsense with people talking about what might be going on, but I can’t comment on speculation, I just note that it is there. I don’t have a clue on his personal life or anything like that. Everyone always talks because Novak is not being unbelievable at the moment. He’s not been brilliant, and yet probably the most exciting match of the year was when he came back from a set down to beat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final of the Australian Open. For me, I would love it if he got stuck in and had another run at a Grand Slam, and Wimbledon may present the opportunity for him because his returns are so good. Physically, it’s not the same as playing at the French Open or a hard court. But it’s all speculation and I hope we see a couple of more Novak highlights.
What Grand Slam does Novak have the best chance of winning?
He’s pretty handy on the hard courts and he did make the semi-final of the Australian Open before losing to Alexander Zverev. Maybe he would think hard court, but personally I think grass. Less people are good on it than other surfaces so there’s a pool of guys going deep into the tournament a little bit less, and Novak’s return is still phenomenal so if he gets his teeth into it, it would be nice. But that takes concentration and focus, and I don’t know where Novak is at the moment. He’s still doing all of the duties he is supposed to do but he doesn’t look like the same man at the moment on the court. We’ll see how he reacts or what is going on. Perhaps he will tell us more.
