Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal are set to face off once again at the Rafael Nadal Academy Slam, which will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the King of Clay’s tennis academy.
In a video posted to social media, Nadal said: “I know you’ve been practising a lot, almost like a professional. I can’t practise as much as you, but I think I can still be competitive,”
“Maybe you can bring some of your friends and I can bring some of mine, and we can have a team competition here at the Academy to celebrate the 10th Anniversary. It would be fantastic for everyone here at the Academy to welcome you back.”
The Scot will lead Team Murray against Nadal’s Team Rafa and it will mark their first match since 2016, when Murray beat Nadal in straight sets at the Madrid Open.
That was Murray’s seventh victory in their 24 matches on the ATP Tour in a rivalry that the King of Clay largely dominated in their careers.
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Nadal won 17 of his matches against Murray, and seven of those came at Grand Slam level, so the Spaniard was often a thorn in the side of the Scot.
In fact, Murray only managed two victories against Nadal at Grand Slams and those came at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open.
The former of which saw Murray reach the US Open final for the first time in his career, but his hopes of a first Grand Slam title were halted by Roger Federer.
Murray has notched up several other impressive victories against Nadal, however, including two wins against the Spaniard on clay, both of which came in Madrid.
Alternatively, eight of Nadal’s 17 victories against Murray came on clay, so he certainly lived up to his King of Clay moniker against his great rival.
The other teams for Team Murray and Team Rafa are yet to be announced, but expect them to feature several players from the past of both men.
The pair have known each other since they were children, when Murray played in tennis training camps in Spain.
“Rafa and I are good friends and we have been since we were young,” Murray said in an exclusive with Hello!. “We’ve grown up in competition together and hearing about his training set-up in Spain was a pivotal moment for me.
“He was able to practice so much more than me and hitting with Top 100 players when he was 14/15, I knew instantly I would have to change my set-up in the UK, I called my mum that night and told her I’d made my mind up, I was moving to Spain!”
Who knows where Murray would have ended up if he hadn’t moved to Spain as a teen?
The tournament takes place at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Manacor on October 3rd.
