Djokovic building bond with Murray over golf dinners

Novak Djokovic said working with coach Andy Murray still felt a bit surreal but it offered him the opportunity to finally build a personal relationship with the Scot after their long rivalry on court.

Djokovic, a 24-times Grand Slam champion, appointed fellow former world number one Murray ahead of this years Australian Open and said at the Qatar Open they would continue working together for an indefinite period.

The duo reunited during hardcourt tournaments in the United States and, after reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, Djokovic said he was grateful to have Murray on board.

We shared the same stage, so to say, and were on the tour for a very long time and know each other for 20-25 years since the junior days, Djokovic told Sky Sports.

But obviously when youre rivals you dont interact as much and actually as we were waiting for matches to restart after the rain today we had a very interesting talk.

Ive always had tremendous respect for Andy, as a player, but now even more so as a person. Hes such a nice guy and Im really grateful he cares about me doing well on the court.

Djokovic won 25 of his 36 matches against Murray and said he was still getting used to having the Briton in his corner.

Its still surreal that one of my biggest rivals is my coach, and hes fist-bumping and jumping around in the box, Djokovic said.

Sometimes I pinch myself and ask myself is this real? Is this a dream? but its great.

Were trying to get the most out of this relationship of player and coach and also to spend some quality time together. Miami has been good. We were here early, almost a week before the tournament started.

We played some golf,