Sir Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were pictured working together for the first time on Tuesday morning, five days before the start of the Australian Open.

The pair shocked the tennis world when announcing that Murray, who retired last year, would become Djokovic’s coach. They were long-time friends and rivals but the announcement came out of the blue with Murray having not previously stated an intention to coach.

The agreement will be reviewed after the Australian Open but the pair were seen together in Melbourne as the Serb played a practice set against Carlos Alcaraz.

Their partnership will spark a huge amount of interest in the tournament but has not been well received by all, with Murray having been accused of living in the past and “grasping at something that no longer exists” by world No 33 Alexander Bublik.

In a bizarre interview, Bublik, from Kazakhstan, also took aim at Rafael Nadal and his retirement, labelling him “bald and old”.

“Now [Murray] has joined Novak Djokovic’s team,” Bublik said in an interview with Match TV. “These are attempts to grasp at something that no longer exists, to some echoes of the past. I think this is a problem.”

At the November Davis Cup finals in Malaga, Nadal gave a speech and was memorialised in a video montage of his achievements as he bowed out from the game in front of a sold-out home crowd.

“It is clear that I am not Rafa, my legacy will be much smaller, if it can be called such,” Bublik said. “What happened to Andy Murray and Rafa was a circus.

“I can’t call it anything else. People have achieved everything, even we tennis players looked at them with our mouths open in the locker room – and then you see one of them bald and old.

“It is clear that he is no longer the same and will never be the same. In my opinion, this is even a shame, not a circus. Probably, it would be more correct to say so. Although Rafa still left normally.”

Murray and Djokovic, who were born a fortnight apart in 1987, are aiming to mastermind the Serb’s 11th victory at the tournament.

But in 2025, Djokovic’s ruthlessness and domination has come under threat, outstripped at the majors by the new generation in world No 1 Jannik Sinner and reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz.

Djokovic traumatised by Australian deportation

For Djokovic, Australia also holds another source of anxiety. In 2022 he was deported for his refusal to receive the Covid 19 vaccination, and flying to Melbourne remains a source of stress.

“I have to be quite frank,” Djokovic said in an interview with Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper. “The last couple of times I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration – I had a bit of trauma from three years ago.

“And some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is approaching.

“The person checking my passport – are they going to take me, detain me again or let me go? I must admit I have that feeling.”