John McEnroe fires Andy Murray accusation on Australian Open broadcast | Tennis | Sport

The seven-time Grand Slam champion doesn’t believe the top players in the world necessarily need coaches to maintain their standards, with McEnroe instead highlighting that the top trait a mentor can have is a simple one. The American legend insists that to be the best coach, those dishing out the tips mustn’t interfere with a player’s rhythm and flow.

When asked what he’d most appreciate from a coach, McEnroe used Andy Murray as an example, saying: “One that would shut the hell up. ‘You sit there and when I vent you just sort of take it’, which is sort of what a lot of coaches have to do, right? Ask your buddy Andy Murray, he beat up a few coaches over the years.”

It’s a bold accusation, but not necessarily one that is misplaced. Murray struggled with coaching relationships throughout his career, and on occasion looked at odds with his coach. Following retirement, Murray did join Novak Djokovic’s team for a short six-month spell, but has since admitted he wasn’t sure if he’d give it another go.

McEnroe went on to speak about how he was never a fan of travelling to competitions with a big group of people, hinting they can often get in the way. He said: “I didn’t like travelling with a lot of people. God bless these guys, they’re bringing their family, brothers, sisters, coach, physios, and cook. Gotta get to the semi-finals just to break even.”

Coaches have been a hot topic of conversation at the Australian Open so far, with Carlos Alcaraz having recently split from his. However, any fans hoping to see a dream link-up between Roger Federer and Alcaraz will be left disappointed, as the Swiss star has ruled himself out of the running.

He revealed in an interview with TNT Sports: “I’m out, I’m definitely out. Maybe I could give him some advice on the periphery but everybody knows I’m too busy with my children and my life at the minute. I think he can get [the career Grand Slam] with a coach or without a coach, he is that good obviously.

“A good coach definitely will be helping. I don’t know if he has already done press here and talked about his Ferrero situation a little bit, which is obviously going to be a little bit uncomfortable but it’s something you just have to do as a pro.”