Novak Djokovic says he 'loves' what Andy Murray did after his first round Australian Open win which really helped

Novak Djokovic has made history with his latest Australian Open win, as he moves closer to a 25th Grand Slam title.

Djokovic played his 430th Grand Slam singles match, surpassing Roger Federer after beating Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria in four sets.

That is not the only record that Djokovic achieved after beating the 21-year-old, having also joined Serena Williams as only the second player in history to win 150 Grand Slam singles matches after turning 30.

Both of the Serbian’s matches at the Australian Open so far have come against younger players, with Djokovic beating Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round.

Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images

How did Andy Murray help Novak Djokovic prepare at the Australian Open?

A big feature of this Australian Open has been the new coaching partnership between Djokovic and Andy Murray.

This was a heavy focus in Djokovic’s post-match press conference, as he spoke about how Murray has helped him see a different perspective on his first round match in Melbourne.

“I mean, with Andy here, Andy has been spending quite a bit of time watching videos,” said Djokovic. “He watched live my first match, but then he watched the replay of the entire match the next morning.

“He’s really dedicated, and I love that because when you watch the match from a different perspective, you watch the replay, you can maybe see things that you haven’t seen in the heat of the battle.

“That’s what we talk about, some of the elements and cues that he might see or I might see when I watch myself. I don’t see the entire match like him, but I see the highlights and certain moments where I feel like I was maybe off balance or I should have played better or moments where I played really well, what I did well.”

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Djokovic has played two less familiar names in his opening matches at the Australian Open, with Murray having to work harder to find out information ahead of these contests.

“I like data. I like video, particularly visual preparation with the video analysis,” continued Djokovic. “He [Murray] does that, too. I mean, at least what he told me throughout his career. We’re matching pretty well there. We speak the same language, so to say. We understand each other very well.

“We had to do more I think work in terms of the first preparation, analysis preparation, for the first two guys that I faced here because there were not too many matches of them. Very young. We had to really also talk to people in the locker room that played them and so forth to try to get as much information as possible.

“Obviously as the tournament progresses, you know the names better, like my next opponent. It would be easier to find material on them to prepare.”

What Andy Murray may tell Novak Djokovic ahead of his next Australian Open match?

Djokovic will need less of an introduction to his third round opponent in Tomas Machac, who is the 26th seed at the Australian Open this year.

Machac spent three and a half hours on court for his second round match, coming from behind to beat Reilly Opelka.

Opelka beat Djokovic at the Brisbane International, but Machac also has a recent victory over the Serbian.

Last year at the clay court tournament in Geneva, Machac beat Djokovic in a three set semi-final.

However, Djokovic has the bragging rights of winning their only hard court meeting in Dubai two years ago.

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