Rafa Nadal reveals he has spoken to Andy Murray about injury comeback

Updated 20/04/2018 at 21:01 GMT

World number one Rafael Nadal revealed on Friday that he has spoken to Andy Murray about his return from injury.

Rafael Nadal of Spain (L) shakes hands with Andy Murray of Great Britain (R) after his victory in their men's singles match during day four of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena on November 18, 2015 in London, England.

Image credit: Getty Images

Murray, 30, has been out for some time with a hip injury and decided earlier in the year to undergo surgery.

He had been listed on the French Open start list but is not expected to return until the grass court season.

And speaking after his convincing victory over Dominic Thiem at the Monte Carlo Masters, Nadal revealed he has been in contact with Murray.

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Andy Murray of Great Britain shakes hands at the net after his straight sets victory against Rafael Nadal of Spain in their semi final match during day eight of the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament at the Caja Magica on May 07, 2016 in Madrid,Spain.

Image credit: Getty Images

“I don't want to tell you about the things that we talked [about] because will not be fair for him, and I will not feel comfortable with it.” Nadal told reporters.

“But, yes, I tell him the things that I think worked for me. Then, of course, he has his group and he will decide.

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“I have been in that situation. I know how tough and frustrating is when you work every day and you don't see the light of how to improve. You don't see any improvements. But then one day trying things, trying treatments, one day things are going better, no?

That's what I really hope about [Murray] because he is important, very important, for our Tour.

Nadal and Murray make up Tennis’ Big Four, along with Roger Federer, who will skip the French Open, and Novak Djokovic.

The Spaniard said that despite their rivalries on the court they all know they can contact each other about anything off the court:

I think everybody knows that we can ask to the other if there is any doubt. Doesn't matter if we are rivals; for me, the friendship is before the tennis court.

"If any player has any doubts about the injuries or treatment that I do, I am always very happy to tell them my experience.

“Bad thing is I have better experience than all of them in all of these cases. So every time that any player ask me for things or treatments that I do, I just try to tell my experience if that can be a good help.”

Britain's Andy Murray (L) shakes hands to Spain's Rafael Nadal after a training session at the Olympic Tennis Center in Rio de Janeiro on August 3, 2016, ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Image credit: Getty Images

The 10-time French Open champion stressed that the key for Murray is to make sure he is completely 100% when he returns.

“Comebacks are not easy,” Nadal added.

“If Andy is healthy, he will come back. After a long period of time, maybe he will not be back and winning first week, but he will not forget how to play tennis. He knows that, and everybody knows that. If he is healthy, he will be back on a position to fight for the most important things.”

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