“Would like opportunity to play against them again”: Andy Murray ‘missed’ playing against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic

Brisbane [Australia]: The three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray stated that he misses competing against rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, but he hopes to face them in the final stages of “big tournaments” in the future.

The 22-time major winner Nadal, who is making his competitive return at the Brisbane International after missing nearly a year due to injuries, has not played against Murray since 2016.

Murray, who is also competing in Brisbane, has returned from repeated extended injury stints since then to reclaim his place in the world’s top 50 but has only met world No. 1 Djokovic once since 2017.

“Obviously I would like the opportunity to play against them again, ideally in the latter stages of big tournaments. That’s something that, you know, obviously I’ve missed that feeling and not had that opportunity really. I can’t remember the last time I played them, to be honest,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference as quoted by Sky Sports.

Murray and Nadal both tweeted a video of a combined practice session in Brisbane on Saturday, with the duo looking to enjoy sharing the court.

Murray will open his Brisbane campaign against another old nemesis, No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitror, while Nadal has yet to be determined.

“It’ll be a good match. 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,” the 36-year-old said.

“There’s a lot of interesting 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,” Murray added.