John McEnroe has revealed an interesting hypothesis that could see Andy Murray make shock return from retirement.
The three-time Grand Slam winner made his final appearance in proffesional tennis last summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Murray made a swift return though as his former rival Novak Djokovic announced in November that he’d be his head coach for 2025.
This year’s Australian Open is the first major tournament in which they will work together since the surprise appointment was made.
Although Murray has swapped playing for coaching, the legend McEnroe believes the Brit will actually return to the court.
“The coaching situation with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, it’s fun, but it’s got to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion said on Eurosport.
“I mean, I remember being in Australia when they told me that Murray was going to be coached by Ivan Lendl, my great rival and nemesis from way back when.
“I thought about it, I said, ‘Oh my God, this is going to work!’ But there’s a big age gap, there’s a one week age gap between Novak and Andy, and he just stopped playing.
“So my theory is Tim [Henman], tell me if I’m wrong, that Murray is going to coach Djokovic for the next couple of months.
“And then he’s going to find out everything he needs to know about how to beat Djokovic, and then he’s coming back. What do you think of that theory?”
Henman appeared stunned and responded by saying: “Where do I start?”
Murray had a 19-year career in professional tennis after making his debut in 2005, with 36 meetings coming against Djokovic.
Djokovic won on 25 occasions, with two of his 11 final victories versus his new coach coming at the 2025 Australian Open.
Murray joked ahead of the tournament that he has returned to Melbourne to ‘try and sabotage his chances of winning another one’.
However, he’s confident of helping the record 24-time Grand Slam winner become one of the greatest athletes in the history of sport.
“Novak has in the last few years cemented himself as the best tennis player of all time, certainly of his generation, with the records that he’s achieved,” Murray said.
“These next couple of years, I think he maybe already has a legitimate claim to be the best athlete of all time.
“But I think, if he can go out as a 38, 39-year-old and win more slams and beat [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner in big matches, he’s got a claim to be the best athlete of all time, and I think that’s exciting for me and his team to be part of that.”
The action at the Australian Open got underway on Sunday but heavy rain at Melbourne Park disrupted play.
Five matches were cancelled as a result of the adverse weather and only those held in the Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena could be played because of their roofs.
Djokovic’s opening test of the tournament comes against wild card Nishesh Basavareddy on Monday.
The 37-year-old has won ten men’s singles Australian Open titles, the most in the competition’s history.