'I am sorry for them' says Nadal about Federer, Djokovic and Murray as trio struggle with injury

Rafael Nadal has advised his fellow rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to accept their respective injury troubles and keep fighting to get fit at the earliest.

The Spaniard is no stranger to injury, having spent a good chunk of the last two to three seasons struggling with physical issues. In 2016, he struggled with a wrist injury that saw him end the season prematurely in October.

Nadal has had a number of absences since the start of his career and he is right when he says that he has missed the most number of tournaments compared to his rivals due to injury.

The 15-time Grand Slam champion, who will be crowned world number one at the end of this week, was speaking after his straight sets win over Richard Gasquet at the Cincinnati Masters. Nadal is among the only two top-10 ranked players currently remaining in the draw at the tournament, with the other being Dominic Thiem.

Federer, Murray and Djokovic have pulled out of the event due to injury with the former two expected to return for the US Open that starts on 28 August.

The Serb, however, decided to end his 2017 season after his loss at Wimbledon in July this year, which is similar to what Federer did in 2016 when he skipped the last five months of the campaign to recover from a knee injury.

"You know it is something that happens because we are not 20 years old anymore, no? We are over 30, most of us. So it is something that can happen. This year happened couple of times, but I tell you one thing, no, I have been in that position more than all these players that are out now," Nadal said, as quoted by Tennis World USA.

"So that's part of the sport. I know how tough it is. I am very sorry for all of them, and I wish all of them a fast and good recovery. But at the same time I tell you, no, Roger didn't have a lot of things during his career.

"Novak, the same. Andy, the same. Stan [Wawrinka], I don't think he had a lot of issues, too. I am the only one of these top players that I miss a lot of important tournaments in my career. More than nobody else. I know how tough it is," the Spaniard explained.

"But the only thing that you can do when these kind of things happen is accept and keep going," he added.