Murray: I’ve missed playing against Nadal and Djokovic

Although Andy Murray says he misses competing against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic,

he is still optimistic about meeting the two in the later stages of “big tournaments”.

Murray has not faced Nadal since 2016. Nadal is making his competitive comeback at the Brisbane International,

live on Sky Sports, following nearly a full year away due to injuries.

Although Murray, who is also competing in Brisbane, has only once faced world No. 1 Djokovic since 2017,

he has recovered from several protracted injury absences of his own to rank in the top 50 of the world rankings.

Murray stated in his pre-tournament press conference,

“Obviously I would like the opportunity to play against them again, ideally in the latter stages of big tournaments.”

“It’s something that I’ve clearly missed out on and never really had the chance to experience.

“I can’t remember the last time I played them, to be honest.”

Murray’s 36 tour-level encounters with Djokovic ended at the 2022 Madrid Masters,

and his 24 encounters with Nadal concluded at the same competition in 2016.

Murray and Nadal appeared to have liked sharing the court during their joint practice session in Brisbane,

as seen by the videos that they both released on Saturday.

Murray’s first-round opponent in Brisbane will be No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitror,

another old rival; Nadal’s opponent for the first round is still unknown.

The 36-year-old declared, “It’ll be a good match.”

“Grigor’s previous season was outstanding. I faced him in the US Open, where he easily prevailed,

so if I want to make it through, I’ll need to play extremely well—certainly much better than I did then.”

Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who gave birth to her first child in July of this year,

will also be playing in the women’s draw in Brisbane. She hasn’t played since September 2022.

Murray continued, “There are a lot of intriguing first-round matches.”

“I think obviously everyone excited for Rafa and Naomi to come back and play,

so that’s good – a good start for the tournament I think.”

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