BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Hiring Andy Murray as his coach came naturally for Novak Djokovic. On a trip to Argentina to play in a farewell match for Juan Martín del Potro, the Serbian explained why he chose his former rival after being without a coach for six months.
Murray and Djokovic announced last week they plan to work together for the Australian Open in January.
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Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro during an exhibition tennis match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic gestures to the crowd during an exhibition tennis match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Former tennis player Gabriela Sabatini and Juan Martin Del Potro high-five during an exhibition doubles tennis match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Gisela Dulko in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Former tennis players Juan Martin Del Potro returns the ball alongside Gabriela Sabatini during an exhibition doubles tennis match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Gisela Dulko in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts during an exhibition tennis match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Former tennis player Gabriela Sabatini, center, poses with Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, right, and Serbia's Novak Djokovic prior to an exhibition tennis match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
“Since I was very young, I have played against him… and there are not many people who have won multiple Grand Slam titles,” said Djokovic in Spanish in a press conference before the match against Del Potro.
Djokovic is a 24-time Grand Slam champion who has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other player in tennis history. Murray won three major trophies and two Olympic singles gold medals and finished 2016 atop the ATP rankings. He ended his playing career after the Paris Olympics in August.
Both men are 37 and were born a week apart in May 1987. They started facing each other as juniors and wound up meeting 36 times as professionals, with Djokovic holding a 25-11 advantage.
“He knows my game and everything that I have been through very well,” added Djokovic, currently No. 7 in the ATP rankings. “He knows the things that are wrong with my game, all of my mistakes.”
Djokovic has been without a full-time coach since splitting in March from Goran Ivanisevic.
Del Potro, who won the US Open in 2009, won the exhibition match played in Parque Roca, Buenos Aires, 6-4, 7-5.
“We played against each other in the biggest stages of our sport, but in the end our friendship was bigger than the rivalry,” added Djokovic. “We are here to celebrate Juan Martin’s career and to enjoy every moment.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro during an exhibition tennis match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic gestures to the crowd during an exhibition tennis match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Former tennis player Gabriela Sabatini and Juan Martin Del Potro high-five during an exhibition doubles tennis match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Gisela Dulko in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Former tennis players Juan Martin Del Potro returns the ball alongside Gabriela Sabatini during an exhibition doubles tennis match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Gisela Dulko in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts during an exhibition tennis match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Former tennis player Gabriela Sabatini, center, poses with Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, right, and Serbia's Novak Djokovic prior to an exhibition tennis match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
