John McEnroe has joked that Andy Murray agreed to coach Novak Djokovic so he can discover ways to beat the Serbian. The American teased that Murray would then come out of retirement and use the knowledge to get the better of the 24-time Grand Slam champion in a showdown on the court.

Murray and Djokovic announced their link-up at the end of November, little over three months after the Briton had called time on his playing career.

And the two-time Wimbledon champion will be aiming to guide his former rival to Australian Open success this month, with Djokovic due to open his campaign against Nishesh Basavareddy on Monday.

McEnroe is working for Eurosport throughout the Australian Open and spoke about the new tennis partnership.

And he offered his theory to six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Tim Henman, who is also working for the broadcaster.

“The coaching situation with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic – it’s fun but it’s got to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” McEnroe began.

“I remember being in Australia when they told me that Murray was going to be coached by Ivan Lendl, my great rival and nemesis from way back when. I thought about it and I said: ‘Oh my god, this is going to work.’

“But there’s a big age gap, there’s a one-week age gap between Novak and Andy and he’s just stopped playing.

“So my theory is Tim – tell me if I’m wrong – that Murray’s going to coach Djokovic for the next couple of months and then he’s going to find out everything he needs to know about how to beat Djokovic. And then he’s coming back. What do you think about that theory?”

Henman was in stitches in the studio as he mulled over McEnroe’s comments. And the 50-year-old continued to laugh as he replied: “Where do I start?”

Djokovic has won 10 Australian Open titles throughout his illustrious career but was unable to get his hands on any of the four Grand Slams last year as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both won two apiece.

Djokovic, 37, is the third favourite behind those two stars to land the trophy at Melbourne Park this month.

But ahead of the tournament he revealed his dad has been trying to get him to retire from the sport. “I don’t know if he’s going to be happy with me saying this, but my dad has been trying to retire me for a while now,” explained the veteran. “He understands why I keep going, but he’s like: ‘What else do you want to do?’”