NADAL INVITES MURRAY TO MALLORCA FOR ACADEMY ANNIVERSARY

Rafael Nadal has invited Andy Murray to Mallorca to mark the tenth anniversary of the Rafa Nadal Academy, according to a video message posted on social media. Nadal proposed a golf match followed by a team event at the academy, each bringing friends, ahead of a celebration on 3 October. He said he had not called Murray directly, assuming he would be playing golf, but felt he could still be competitive against him. He called the prospect "fantastic for everybody" at the academy.

Nadal founded the academy in his hometown of Manacor so young players could pursue a tennis career while continuing their education, valuing effort, humility and resilience, according to the report. The invitation came in the same week Murray played an exhibition match with British number one Arthur Fery at the O2 Arena in London. Fery is serving as the alternate for Team Europe at this weekend's Laver Cup. Roger Federer, who co-founded the Laver Cup and retired from professional tennis at the tournament in 2022, appeared at the O2 alongside Rod Laver and captains Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi ahead of the ninth edition, which begins on 25 September and runs for three days.

If the exhibition takes place as proposed, it will be the first meeting between Murray and Nadal since Nadal beat Murray 7-5, 6-4 in the Madrid Open semi-finals in May 2016, according to the report. The academy's anniversary celebration is set for 3 October. Murray, a former world number one and three-time Grand Slam champion, has not yet publicly responded to the invitation. The proposed event would reunite two of the leading players of the past two decades at the academy Nadal built in Manacor.