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Rafael Nadal practiced with one of his greatest rivals over the years as he ramped up his preparations for his long-awaited comeback. The Spaniard was pictured hitting with Andy Murray on Pat Rafter Arena ahead of the Brisbane International.The pair have contested some pulsating battles over the years and now they are helping one another prepare for their first tournament of the 2024 season. After the session, the 37-year-old took to social media and posted a photo of him shaking hands with Murray.He wrote: “Thanks @andy_murray for a great practice today. All the best for the tournament my friend @BrisbaneTennis.” The three-time Grand Slam winner soon replied: “Thanks for the opportunity to be back on the court with you. Good luck with the comeback.”The Brit spoke to the media after practicing with Nadal and he was very impressed with the 2008 Olympic champion’s level despite not playing competitively for a year. “It’s great to have him back playing,” Murray said. “Always very, very intense practices with him [and] he looked physically good and was playing well.”Nadal has not played since the 2023 Australian Open where he suffered a hip injury and had surgery to repair the issue in June. He has been rehabbing for the past few months and hit with some players at his self-titled Rafael Nadal academies in Mallorca and Kuwait.By all accounts, he is moving well and looks to be in fantastic shape ahead of a comeback the man himself thought may not happen. The 14-time French Open champion has been working hard to regain his rhythm on the court and Murray said Nadal should not focus too much on his game.”There’s certain things he’s probably doing, slightly different to earlier in his career,” Murray said of the 22-time Grand Slam champion. “His second serve is significantly harder than what he did earlier in his career but I mean, the rest of the game, unless there’s a physical issue, there’s not really much reason for him to make huge changes to that. It’s been pretty successful.”When he’s fit and healthy, that game style is what has worked really, really well for him, looking for his forehand, trying to dominate with that shot. If he wants to be successful in the future, that’s what he should be looking to do and that’s how he was trying to play today.”Since arriving in Brisbane, Nadal also practiced with Holger Rune, one of the ATP Tour’s brightest young players. The pair have yet to play against one another but they engaged in an intense hitting session, after which the Dane described the tennis icon’s performance as very good. “After the practice I talked to my team, and I thought he played unbelievable,” the 20-year-old said. “We were hitting and he was hitting strong. Then we started points and I thought he was moving very well, moving side to side extremely fast. The intensity he brings is incredible. Like, I’ve been playing I think a very intense pre-season and a very intense end of the season last year, and that was probably the hardest practice I’ve had the last half year.” Nadal will begin his Brisbane campaign against a qualifier, while Murray has a tough opener against Grigor Dimitrov.
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