Andy Murray conceded Saturday he longed for the chance to play again on the big stage against superstars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

The Serbian superstar is the king of the Melbourne Park hard courts, winning the Australian Open a record 10 times, with an 11th in his sights next month.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, makes his comeback after a near year-long injury absence at the Australian Open warm-up event in Brisbane starting Sunday.

Novak Djokovic has no plans to hang up his racket any time soon and is hoping he might be able to emulate American football great Tom Brady by extending his career well past his 40th birthday, the 36-year-old Serbian said on Tuesday.

Novak Djokovic said he accepts responsibility for Serbia's Davis Cup semi-final defeat by Italy on Saturday after failing to convert three match points against Jannik Sinner.

A "proud" Jannik Sinner beat world number one Novak Djokovic twice in one day to send Italy into the Davis Cup final with a 2-1 win over Serbia on Saturday in Malaga.

Novak Djokovic was furious after being asked to undergo a dope test shortly before Serbia's Davis Cup win over Great Britain, although the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said Saturday it was standard practice and he had not been singled out.

Djokovic was enraged as some fans tried to drown out his victory speech with drums, which the superstar said he felt he had to respond to.

Serbia are one of the eight surviving nations from September's group phase and will face Britain on Thursday.

At 36 years old Djokovic is still tennis' number one player by some distance and he has racked up a host of new records this season, taking his Grand Slam tally to 24 and finishing top of the year-end world rankings for the eighth time.

Novak Djokovic closed in on a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title on Saturday after sweeping past Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2 in a dominating semi-final display he hailed as his best of the tournament.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion needed just one win or a defeat for young rival Carlos Alcaraz in order to secure top spot in the ATP rankings for 2023 and prevailed in a three-hour Green Group clash with spirited debutant Rune.

Novak Djokovic rallied to defeat Andrey Rublev 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 in a gripping Paris Masters semi-final on Saturday, earning a shot at a record-extending seventh title in the final against Grigor Dimitrov.

"I believe that numbers are numbers and statistics are statistics. In that sense, I think he (Djokovic) has better numbers than mine and that is indisputable," Nadal said in an interview with AS published on Wednesday

He reads his opponents like a book and then translates the lessons onto the court.

The world number one eased to a 6-3, 6-4 success to give his country an unassailable 2-0 lead in Valencia after Laslo Djere's earlier 6-4, 6-4 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas

Alcaraz pulled out of the final group stage after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open semi-finals, saying he needed a rest.

Novak Djokovic, who won his 24th Grand Slam title on Sunday, will dominate men's tennis for years because younger players have yet to reach his level, according to Andy Murray.

Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets on Sunday to win his fourth US Open and a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, cementing his claim as the greatest tennis player in history.

The 'Big Three' dominated men's tennis over the last two decades with a collective 66 Grand Slam titles between them but Djokovic is now clear of the retired Federer (20) and Nadal (22), who is expected to call time on his career next year