But as soon as the new year rolls around, Murray will be back on tour. Albeit as part of Djokovic’s coaching team, but few would have expected the 37-year-old back in tennis so quickly.

And the shock has prompted fans to tease one another with the prospect that Nadal could be next to make a sharp U-turn. On Reddit, u/GirafeAnyway posted a photo of the Spaniard captioned: “Breaking News: Rafael Nadal cancels retirement and will be coached by Roger Federer.”

The headline was a joke and not real, in jest at the unexpect news that Murray would not only become a coach, but work with one of the greatest players to ever hit a tennis ball.

Similar comments ensued, as u/DDzxy wrote: “How about both Federer and Nadal also join to coach Novak?”

While u/Shoddy_Leadership_43 wanted a role reversal to the original post, replying: “No. Roger to play in ATP Tour again and coached by the one and only Rafa Nadal!”

Then u/MMittermajor went one further and suggested legends from other sports could offer their expertise to the current crop of stars, in a bid to stop Djokovic and Murray together.

They wrote: “Once we‘re running out of tennis big guns, Michael Jordan will coach (Taylor) Fritz, Tiger Woods comes in for Ben Shelton, Michael Phelps will coach (Nick) Kyrgios, Wayne Gretzky will take over FAA‘s (Felix Auger Aliassime) box…”

Nadal, however, has made no decision over what his immediate future holds as he can now enjoy some family time with wife Maria and their son Rafael Jr.

He is open to working in tennis again, but does not want to be a full-time coach and instead could become a mentor to those on the tour.

“They ask me things about the future that I cannot answer, nor say one thing or another,” he told Spanish outlet AS last year. “Because the future is often uncertain and I also don’t lose sight of the fact that I have an academy where players come and I like sports in general.

“I like tennis, so I can’t say that I’m not going to drink that water, that I’m not going to be a coach. I don’t see myself doing a complete calendar on the Tour, it’s practically impossible. Now, in a few weeks, being able to help someone or being able to spend some time with a player, well, why not tomorrow. Not today, but tomorrow who knows?”