The 22-time Grand Slam champion made the comments in an interview with AP’s Andrew Dampf published on 3 November, the first time he has publicly addressed the possibility of a reunion with Federer since announcing his own return to the court.

“I am open (to it) and I had long conversations with Roger,” Nadal told the AP. “Let’s see what’s going on in the future; if something happens or not. But we are in almost weekly contact together.”

Nothing has been scheduled. What the two have been discussing, if and when it happens, is entirely open: an exhibition date, a doubles pairing, a one-off event. Nadal did not put a venue or a format on the table.

No place, no date, but plenty of talking

The contact between the two is not purely tennis. Asked about the content of the conversations, Nadal described the tone as conversational rather than operational.

Read also: Journalist calls for Raphinha to lose Barcelona captaincy after Brazil trip

“We talk about golf. We talk about sports. We share thoughts. I mean, normal relationship,” he told the AP.

Novak Djokovic, the third pillar of the era the two defined, is not part of the exchange. Nadal told Dampf plainly that there is no group chat and pointed to the obvious reason: Djokovic is still on tour and chasing Grand Slams, while Federer and Nadal are not.

A Las Vegas return is already confirmed

The reunion chatter arrives three months before Nadal’s first competitive hit in the United States since he retired. He will headline The MGM Slam Presented by Capital One at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, 28 February 2027, the event organisers announced on 26 October. The rest of the card is still to be filled in.

“Now I return in a different stage of my life, without the pressure of the tour but with the same passion for this sport,” Nadal said in the event’s announcement.

Read also: Merckx says Pogačar ‘is now above me’ in new Eurosport documentary

He is not treating the exhibition as a victory lap. He has barely touched a racket since retiring, and the Vegas event is more of a diagnostic than a performance.

It has been more than four years since the last time

Federer, 45, played his final professional match on 23 September 2022 at the Laver Cup in London, losing a doubles tie alongside Nadal to Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock 4-6, 7-6 (2), 11-9. The image of the two men in tears on the bench afterwards remains one of the defining moments of modern tennis.

Nadal followed two years later. His career ended on 19 November 2024 at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where he lost 6-4, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands before Spain were eliminated in the quarter-finals. They played 40 times against each other over their careers. Nadal won 24 of them.

An on-court reunion, in any format, would be the first time the two have shared a tennis court since that night in London.

Read also: “They have average players”: Fabio Capello slams Manchester United after Roma victory

Read also: Verstappen’s advice to Antonelli after his first F1 title: ‘I was probably still drunk the next day’