Phoenix 24
Spanish tennis reunites three defining figures from one of its greatest generations.
Manacor
David Ferrer and Carlos Moyà will join Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet in Team Rafa for the Rafa Nadal Academy Slam, a doubles exhibition scheduled for October 3 in Manacor as part of the academy’s tenth anniversary celebrations. The event will place several former world class players back on court in a format designed as both competition and tribute.
Team Rafa will face a group led by Andy Murray and completed by Dominic Thiem, Marat Safin and Fabio Fognini. The lineup brings together former Grand Slam champions, world number ones and players who shaped different eras of elite tennis. For Nadal, however, the event carries a more personal dimension because it reconnects him with two of the most important Spanish figures from his competitive years.
Ferrer shared numerous Davis Cup campaigns with Nadal and was part of an era in which Spain became one of the dominant nations in men’s team tennis. He won three Davis Cup titles and later transitioned into leadership as captain of the Spanish national team. He was also present during Nadal’s final professional appearance at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Málaga.
Moyà’s connection is equally significant. The former world number one and 1998 Roland Garros champion represented Spain alongside Nadal during the 2004 Davis Cup triumph before eventually becoming one of the central figures in Nadal’s coaching team. He joined that structure in late 2016 and contributed to some of the final major chapters of Nadal’s career.
The exhibition will also mark Nadal’s return to competitive court action in front of an audience since retiring from professional tennis in 2024. Although the format is celebratory rather than part of the ATP Tour, the symbolic value is considerable. Nadal, Ferrer and Moyà will once again share the same side of the net, reviving memories of the generation often associated with Spain’s modern tennis golden age.
The academy’s anniversary therefore becomes more than an institutional celebration. It reconnects players whose careers were intertwined through Davis Cup victories, Grand Slam battles and years of national success.
For one evening in Manacor, Spanish tennis will revisit its recent past not through archives or ceremonies, but through the players themselves returning to the court.
Beyond the news, the pattern.