Paul Annacone, the former coach of the legendary Pete Sampras and 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has said that the triple Major winner Andy Murray and the Serbinator Novak Djokovic will be absolutely ready to challenge the dominance of the Swiss great and the reigning French Open holder Rafael Nadal when they will make their much publicized return to the ATP tour at the start of the New Year.
Murray, a winner of the prestigious Wimbledon Championships twice, and Djokovic, one among the eight men who have won the Career Slam were forced to end their 2017 seasons because of hip and shoulder problems respectively. However, the pair is scheduled to be back on the men’s circuit at the beginning of 2018 but their fitness levels are yet to be tested.
While Murray played an exhibition against Federer just before the ATP’s year-end Championships in London, Djokovic recently announced that former top-ten player from the Czech Republic, Radek Stepanek will be joining his coaching team for the new season in 2018.
In the absence of the Brit and Novak, Federer and Nadal have reigned supreme on the men’s tour, winning two Grand Slams each. Even as the 36-year-old from Basel won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Nadal quickly matched him by capturing the Roland Garros and US Open crowns.
And Annacone believes that the return of Djokovic and Murray will be good for the game as the two are great players and will surely give Nadal and Federer some tough time on the court in 2018.
Annacone said: “I would think so. I don’t know how healthy Novak and Andy is but when you start playing three out of five sets especially with their style of play, where they don’t get a lot of free points, they are working hard from day one, we are going to see how healthy they are early on.
“And if they are healthy, they are great players. Great doesn’t just stop, especially at their age. They are not all of sudden not great anymore. There’s no reason why Djokovic and Murray can’t be at the top of the game with Federer and Nadal next year.”
