Jurgen Melzer thinks Andy Murray could be exactly what Novak Djokovic needs as the former world No. 8 is tipping the Serb to be in contention in all four Grand Slam tournaments.

This year, the Serbian tennis star only triumphed at the Paris Olympics and finished the year ranked at No. 7 in the world. After not winning a single Grand Slam in a season for the first time since 2017 or having much success on the ATP Tour, the 37-year-old acknowledged that it wasn’t one of his best years in terms of results.

But late in the year, Djokovic made something crystal clear – he dismissed retirement rumors and confirmed that he would be back in 2025 aiming to do more great things. Then, he stunningly hired his former rival Murray to be his coach.

With the Briton on board, 2010 French Open semifinalist Melzer expects the Serb to find a new source of motivation and ultimately challenge better Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2025.

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“Novak has to train differently, more intelligently than when he was 30. He can no longer carry the same workload, he has to carefully choose the areas in which he wants to improve. A body at his age regenerates at a different speed, that’s why he brought Murray to the team, because he has been through everything in recent years. Andy can be a motivational boost, he can give him new joy from training. For Nole, it’s all about the Grand Slams, if he loses at a Masters 1000 it won’t be so dramatic. I think in 2025 we will see him fighting for all the Grand Slam titles,” former five-time ATP champion Melzer told tennisnet.During his career, the newly retired Briton was known as a masterclass tactician. While his game wasn’t the prettiest and there were times when he was accused of playing too passively, he managed to land three Grand Slams – twice win the Olympics – and reach the world No. 1 position.

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Now that he is a coach, Melzer expects the Briton to be able to provide some outstanding tips and insight to Djokovic. And because the Serb respects the former two-time Wimbledon champion and will absolutely listens to what he has to say, the former Austrian tennis star is backing it to be “a very successful partnership.”

“I think it’s an incredible combination, which is extremely good for tennis. Apart from the huge headlines he has generated, I think Andy can help Novak a lot – there are very few who have his IQ on the court. Even a legend like Djokovic can learn a lot from him, he still has a lot to hear, so now he can discuss a lot of topics with Muray, who can look him straight in the eye. That could lead to a very successful partnership,” Melzer said.

After splitting with his coach of six years Goran Ivanisevic in April, the Serb took some time before deciding whether or not he wanted to bring in someone on a full-time basis. In the end, the 37-year-old decided to get a new coach but he also figured out that he needed something different this time – and that was hiring someone who was in his position and would be able to perfectly understand him.

“I was going through a process of thinking about next season in the past couple of months and figuring out what I needed as I stopped with my coach Goran Ivanisevic, who I was successful with. I took about six months to think if I really needed a coach and if yes, who is that going to be and the profile of the coach,” Djokovic told Sky Sports.

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“We were going through different names and I realized at this point the perfect coach would be someone who has been through the experiences I have been through. A multiple Grand Slam winner and I was thinking about a few and the Andy Murray discussion appeared on the table with my team. I decided I would give him a call and see how it goes. It caught him off guard a little bit as he wasn’t expecting it.”For now, their partnership is only confirmed through the Australian Open. Should Djokovic make a major run at the Australian Open and potentially win his 25th Grand Slam title with Murray as a coach, that would very likely mean that the Briton would be a regular in the Serb’s box in the biggest tournaments throughout 2025.