A Big Three group chat was never on. Rafael Nadal made that clear himself in a new interview with The Associated Press.
Speaking by video from his home in Mallorca, Nadal was asked whether the three men who dominated men’s tennis for two decades share a running thread. He did not hedge.
“We don’t have a chat at all. Novak is still in competition,” Nadal told the AP.
The line is less a swipe than a scheduling note. Novak Djokovic is still chasing titles on the ATP Tour. Nadal retired in November 2024, Federer before him, and the two of them belong to a different part of their careers now, one in which weekly messages between retirees make more sense than a group thread with an active rival.
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Federer calls almost every week
Contact with Roger Federer, by contrast, is a near-constant. Nadal said the two are in almost weekly contact and cover ordinary ground: golf, sports, shared thoughts about family. He described it as a normal relationship between two old friends.
The interview also kept alive the idea of a Nadal-Federer exhibition. Nadal said he and Federer have had long conversations about doing something together, without committing to a date or a venue.
“I am open (to it) and I had long conversations with Roger,” he told the AP.
On how they talk about today’s generation, Nadal was briefly playful, joking that he and Federer were “much, much better” before shifting back to a more measured register.
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A new role at Real Madrid
Nadal’s post-tennis diary is filling up. On Tuesday, Real Madrid’s board agreed to put his appointment as a new director to its General Assembly of Delegated Members for ratification, the club confirmed in a statement carried by Al Jazeera. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner and already an honorary member of the club, said he accepted the invitation “with great enthusiasm, keen to learn and to contribute as much as I can.”
On court, he has a return date. The MGM Slam presented by Capital One, an exhibition built around him, is set for 28 February 2027 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the week before the ATP Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells.
Nadal told the AP he was not chasing results any longer and played only for the feel of preparing and hitting again. Asked about coaching, he said never say never, but not now, citing two small children and the time a full-time role would demand.
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