Rafael Nadal will return to the Laver Cup this year after last playing in 2022 alongside Roger Federer in his retirement match.
While many assume that this is Nadal's final year on the ATP Tour, he doesn't want to focus only on clay-court tournaments or those that offer ranking points, but he will also compete in a popular exhibition, which will be played from September 20th to 22nd, in Berlin, Germany.
The last time Nadal played was in 2022, when Federer retired from tennis at the event, and the Spaniard shared the court with him in the final match. It was a doubles match against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe, and the Americans sent the Swiss Maestro into retirement with a loss.
This year, Nadal will return to the competition. Still, he might just play one singles or a couple of doubles matches because nobody really expects him to play a lot, given how much he wants to preserve his body.
He'll surely draw some eyeballs to the event, especially with Team Europe fielding a really strong team led by Carlos Alcaraz.
Nadal's announcement was accompanied by a customary statement from the player, in which the 37-year-old underlined his excitement about playing at the Laver Cup again.
"I am very happy to be playing Laver Cup in Berlin for Team Europe. I have some really special memories from my Laver Cup experiences, including all the emotions from London two years ago playing alongside Roger for the last time."
Team captain Bjorn Borg was also thrilled to have the 22-time major winner as part of the team, as they hope to avenge a bad loss to Team World from last year.
"He loves playing Laver Cup and is one of the greatest competitors the sport has ever seen. The aim is to win back the Laver Cup and having Rafa alongside Carlos, Daniil and Sascha is an unbelievable line-up for us so far."
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