Andy Murray reveals wish to play with Roger Federer again as he prepares for Wimbledon at Stuttgart Open

Andy Murray says he would “love to see” Roger Federer competing on tour again and hopes to play alongside him at another tournament.

Federer, 40, has been out of action since Wimbledon last year after undergoing a third knee operation.

“It’s always difficult to know when the end is. Obviously, people have been talking about it for many years. The next generation have come through, [but] the same guys are still winning the Grand Slams and I’d love to see Roger back competing again.

“I don’t know his situation, but I believe he will get back to competing. I don’t know how long for, but I really hope we can play another tournament together. It’s been a long time.”

Murray and Federer have met 25 times on tour but last played each other in Cincinnati in 2015.

Murray, who has undergone two hip operations, says his motivation for continuing to play is different to Nadal’s.

“[My motivation] comes from enjoying the sport, loving the sport. My situation is a bit different to his, with the operation that I had,” he said.

“I believe he is playing to try and break records and win the major events. Absolutely you have to love it and be willing to play through some pain as you become an older athlete, but I think it is easier to play through the pain when you are competing for major titles.

“For me the past four or five years have been very different to that, playing Challengers and my ranking dropped. I feel like our situations are different, but ultimately the reasons I am still playing are because I love the game, and because I still think I can compete right at the highest level.”

Murray has shown flashes of his best over the last six months, reaching the Sydney Classic final in January and then beating Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov in the only clay event he played in Madrid.

The three-time Grand Slam champion says he is feeling “completely different” to a year ago and still believes he can still beat anyone on tour.

“I have not shown that consistently over the past few years, but on one-off results, I have. I’ve beaten a lot of the top guys in the world since I came back, but not consistently. I’m hoping now that with a period with no injuries and lots of tournaments, I’ll get back to doing that soon.”

“Last year I was barely practising in the build-up to Queen’s, and when I was practising I was not moving [well]… I was not feeling good until about four days before Wimbledon, and then I actually felt fine. But my preparation was non-existent.

“This year I practised for three weeks on the grass, didn’t really have any physical issues that were stopping me in my preparation. I got a lot of matches last week, and hopefully some more in the next couple of weeks in the build-up to Wimbledon.”

Murray faces Alexander Bublik in the second round of the Stuttgart Open on Thursday.