Tennis fans will have the chance to see Rafael Nadal on court early in 2027 as the legendary Mallorcan has confirmed his presence at an exhibition event.
Nadal has announced he will star at the MGM Slam at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, United States on 28 February.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion played his Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz at the Netflix Slam exhibition in Las Vegas in March 2024.
In a video posted on social media, Nadal confirmed he will be returning to Nevada in four months from now.
“Hello everyone, I have great memories from 2024 playing in Las Vegas,” said the former world No 1.
“The atmosphere and the fans were simply amazing. So, I am very excited to announce that I will be back in 2027.
“And I am very looking forward once again to compete in the MGM Slam. So, see you soon in Vegas.”
Nadal’s announcement comes after he played an exhibition event to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Rafa Nadal academy in Mallorca at the start of October.
The star-studded Rafa Nadal Academy Slam saw Nadal joined in Manacor by Andy Murray, Marat Safin, Dominic Thiem, Carlos Moya, David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet and Fabio Fognini.
Nadal was on Team Rafa with Moya, Ferrer and Gasquet, while Murray, Safin, Thiem and Fognini were on Team Murray.
The former stars played a series of doubles tiebreaks, with Team Rafa claiming a 4-3 overall win.
It was Nadal’s first exhibition outing since he retired from tennis at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
Ahead of the event, Nadal spoke candidly about the challenge of playing tennis after the physical issues he endured in the latter stages of his career.
“Grabbing the racket will always be fun for me, but that’s another matter from closing the door on exhibitions – I’ll play them, but it’s a slow process,” the 40-year-old explained.
“In the end, I finished my career with a lot of physical problems; the racquet reminds me of many of the pains I went through.
“I can live better than I expected, and for me, that’s very important after spending so many years living something else.”
