“He would be excited to play with Federer” - Uncle Toni spills Nadal exhibitions could be on the horizon

Rafael Nadal's retirement doesn't necessarily mean we won't see him playing tennis again. Not according to Uncle Toni, the Spaniard's longtime coach, who mentioned that some exhibition matches with his old rival Roger Federer – and perhaps even Novak Djokovic – could be on the horizon.

While the 22-time Grand Slam champion officially retired at the end of 2024 at the Davis Cup Finals, his grand farewell arrived just a couple of days ago at Roland Garros, where he received a major tribute alongside his old Big Four rivals: Federer, Djokovic, and Andy Murray.

"I imagine he would like to do some exhibitions soon with Federer, to give back a little of all that tennis gave him and what tennis has meant to him," Toni Nadal recently told Clay Magazine. "I believe I have been close enough to him to know him a little and to know that he would be excited to play with Federer. Tennis has formed a large part of his life, it has meant a large part of his life, and you don't erase it completely from one day to the next."

However, the 14-time French Open champion hasn't given a clear signal about a potential date, although Toni Nadal believes that if it's not in the coming months, it will be in 2026. For now, the King of Clay will be focused on the birth of his second child this year and will probably not return to the courts in 2025.

According to the same source, a source from the Italian Tennis Federation mentioned that the Rome Open hopes to organize a tribute to the 10-time champion Nadal, which could happen in 2026. "In 2024, Nadal was aware that a tribute was planned, but he didn't want to do it. In 2026, it would be logical for us to give him a tribute, and it's clear that Paris raised the bar a lot. The most important thing will be to do something that he likes."