Andy Murray says he has missed the feeling of playing against rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal but remains hopeful of facing the pair in the latter stages of “big tournaments”.
Nadal, who is making his return to competitive action – after almost a full year out with injury – at the Brisbane International, live on Sky Sports, has not faced Murray since 2016.
Murray, who is also playing in Brisbane, has come back from multiple lengthy injury absences of his own since then to return to the world’s top 50, but has faced world No 1 Djokovic only once since 2017.
“Obviously I would like the opportunity to play against them again, ideally in the latter stages of big tournaments,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference.
“That’s something that, you know, obviously I’ve missed that that feeling and not had that opportunity really.
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Nadal says there are no expectations on his return at the Brisbane International following a year-long injury.
“I can’t remember the last time I played them, to be honest.”
The last of Murray’s 36 tour-level meetings with Djokovic came at the 2022 Madrid Masters, while the most recent of his 24 clashes with Nadal was at the same tournament in 2016.
Murray and Nadal each shared videos on Saturday of a joint practice session in Brisbane, with the pair appearing to have enjoyed sharing the court.
Murray will begin his Brisbane campaign against another old foe, No 2 seed Grigor Dimitror, while Nadal has yet to learn who his first-round opponent will be.
“It’ll be a good match,” the 36-year-old said.
“Grigor had a brilliant season last season. I played against him at the US Open and he won comfortably, so I’ll need to play really well, certainly much better than there if I want to get through it.”
Also returning to action in the women’s draw in Brisbane is former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, who is set to play for the first time since September 2022, having given birth to her first child in July this year.
“There’s a lot of interesting first-round matches,” Murray added.
“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.”
The Brisbane International is live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Mix from 1am on Sunday morning.