Murray was this week forced to pull out of the Brisbane International, which was scheduled to be his first ATP competition back from a hip injury.

The Brit has not played competitively since Wimbledon in July, when he was beaten by Sam Querrey in five sets while clearly struggling with mobility.

And Murray admitted yesterday in a heart-felt social media post that he is considering surgery and will be forced to make a decision this weekend about the Australian Open, 2018’s first Grand Slam, which starts on January 15.

Djokovic, who is also battling an injury to his elbow and is a doubt for the Melbourne event, added a touching message of support in reply.

“Andy, thank you for genuinely sharing your thoughts and emotions with everyone,” Djokovic wrote.

“I can imagine how bad it feels.

“We all send you support and strength to get through [sic] this tough circumstances. God Bless.”

Earlier, Nadal had also wish Murray well.

The world No 1 wrote: “Andy, we miss you and we hope to see you back soon! Get well my friend!”

Murray’s own lengthy post detailed repeated visits to different specialists in an effort to deal with the injury, which he has struggled with on and off for more than 18 months.

And the former world No 1 is clearly desperate to avoid going under the knife again, having previously had surgery on his back in 2013.

“Having been recommended to treat my hip conservatively since the US Open I have done everything asked of me from a rehab perspective and worked extremely hard to try get back on the court competing ,” Murray wrote.

“Having played practice sets here in Brisbane with some top players unfortunately this hasn't worked yet to get me to the level I would like so I have to reassess my options.

“Obviously continuing rehab is one option and giving my hip more time to recover.

“Surgery is also an option but the chances of a successful outcome are not as I high as I would like which has made this my secondary option and my hope has been to avoid that.

“However this is something I may have to consider but let's hope not.”

He added: “I genuinely miss it so much and I would give anything to be back out there.

“I didn't realise until these last few months just how much I love this game.

“Every time I wake up from sleeping or napping i hope that it's better and it's quite demoralising when you get on the court it's not at the level you need it to be to compete at this level.

“In the short term I'm going to be staying in Australia for the next couple of days to see if my hip settles down a bit and will decide by the weekend whether to stay out here or fly home to assess what I do next.

“Sorry for the long post but I wanted to keep everyone in the loop and get this off my chest as it's really hurting inside.”