Novak Djokovic’s new partnership with Andy Murray is off to a good start.

Djokovic consulted on court with his new coach after the third set of his 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 victory over American Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round of the Australian Open, and the Serb appeared to be receptive to what Murray was saying. Still, Djokovic admitted it was a “strange experience” having Murray literally so close to him during the match.

“It’s all business for us now,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Obviously, thrilled to have him in my corner. I must say, it was a little bit of a strange experience to have him right courtside in my box. We played for over 20 years against each other on the highest level, and it’s great to have him on the same side of the net.

“He gave me some great advices mid-match. I think it’s really good now that we have an opportunity now to have allowed coaching on the same side, so we can exchange some feedback, we can get our coaches to tell us what they really see from the side of the court. It’s a completely different angle, and perspective, when you’re watching from the side and he’s been doing really well. It’s been an enjoyable experience, hopefully we don’t stop here.”

As for the match itself, Djokovic banged out 23 aces en route to his 18th second-round appearance in Melbourne, including one on match point. He then gave flowers to Basavareddy, who has a picture of Djokovic on his WhatsApp profile, for his performance.

“I think he was the better player for a set and a half,” the 24-time major champion said on court. “He deserves every bit of applause that he got when he was exiting the court. It’s a great performance. To be really honest with you, I’ve never seen him play until three, four days ago, so I didn’t know much about him and these kind of matchups are always tricky, always dangerous.”

Djokovic, a ten-time Australian Open champion, brought Murray on as part of a trial period as he bids to win a record 25th Grand Slam title. He obviously respects Murray, who only just retired last year and is familiar with today’s players.

“To see [Murray] so positive, he yells ‘Come on,’ he’s constantly getting up, he’s clapping all the time, that in itself just give s you confidence if you’re Novak,” ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez said on the broadcast.

Djokovic is coming off a year in which he finally won an Olympic gold medal in singles at the Paris Olympics, but did not win a major after winning three in 2023.

In his bid for major No. 25, he closed out Basavareddy in four sets. Murray and the rest of Djokovic’s team shook hands in celebration.

Djokovic beat Murray in four Australian Open finals, so if Djokovic were to go on and win the title, Murray would be able to say he finally had a part in an Australian Open championship.

“This man was single-handedly responsible for that, but I’m not here to sabotage his chances of winning another one,” joked Murray ahead of the fortnight.

Martina Navratilova, the 18-time major champion predicted Murray will have an impact on Djokovic, who could have to face world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and then potentially No. 2 Alexander Zverev in the semis and No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final. All of those players advanced to the second round, while Australian favorite Nick Kyrgios, Djokovic’s most recent doubles partner, lost in straight sets while battling an abdominal issue.

“Novak can get really down on himself,” Navratilova said this week on Tennis Channel. “He’s been mouthing off at his box, but I don’t think he’ll be doing that to Andy and that’ll help him stay positive when something bad happens and he’ll be so much stronger, mentally, just for that reason. He’ll be on his best behavior.”