Murray returns to tennis as Jack Draper's coach
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- Andy Murray has joined Jack Draper's coaching team for the grass-court season, two years after retiring from professional tennis, and is set to sit in the Centre Court coaching box at Wimbledon next week.
- Murray had publicly said in April he wasn't ready to return to coaching, but changed his mind a month later when Draper asked him directly — having previously turned down other opportunities because he didn't want to be away from his four children.
- Draper, a former world number four, has been dealing with a string of injuries and lost his place at the top of the men's game; he begins his latest comeback at Eastbourne this week in a bid to prove his fitness for Wimbledon.
- Murray compared the dynamic to his own legendary partnership with Ivan Lendl, who helped him win three Grand Slam titles — describing his role with the 24-year-old as that of a 'super-coach'.
- Murray said he wasn't surprised by Serena Williams' comeback, recounting a 2024 Miami Open conversation where Williams told him she missed competing 'every single day' and would be back out there if she could.
- Murray, 39, ruled out his own playing return — saying at 44 he doesn't think he'd be 'physically be capable' and hasn't missed the sport enough to want to hit tennis balls regularly.
- Murray is filling the post-retirement void with golf (pursuing scratch-player status), padel, coaching his six-year-old son at chess, watching Scotland at the World Cup, and running a hotel near his hometown of Dunblane with wife Kim.
Why it matters: Murray's return to the coaching box gives Draper — a former world number four now battling back from injury — access to the tactical mind of a three-time Grand Slam champion just as Britain's top male player attempts to prove his fitness for Wimbledon. Murray, 39, accepted only on the condition he wouldn't be on the road away from his four children, meaning Draper gets elite guidance without Murray resuming a full-time touring schedule.
