John McEnroe has joked that Andy Murray has agreed to train Novak Djokovic so he can find ways to beat the Serb. The American teased that Murray would then come out of retirement and use his knowledge to defeat the 24-time Grand Slam champion in an on-court showdown.

Murray and Djokovic announced their merger at the end of November, just over three months after the Brit ended his playing career.

And the two-time Wimbledon champion will try to lead his former rival to victory at the Australian Open this month, with Djokovic opening his season 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 also works for the broadcaster.

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

“I remember being in Australia when I was told that Murray would be coached by Ivan Lendl, my great rival and nemesis back then. I thought about it and said, “Oh my God, this will work.”

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

“So my theory is Tim – tell me if I’m wrong – that Murray will train Djokovic over the next few months and then find out everything he needs to know to beat Djokovic. And then he comes back. What do you think of this theory?”

Henman fumed in the studio as he reflected on 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 during his illustrious career, but failed to claim any of the four Grand Slams last year as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz won two each.

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

But before the tournament, he revealed that his father had tried to get him to retire from the sport. “I don’t know if he’ll be happy with me saying this, but my father has been trying to retire me for some time,” the veteran explained. “He understands why I keep going, but he’s like, ‘What else do you want to do?'”