Rafael Nadal has reached out to a fellow Grand Slam champion on social media.
Nadal retired from tennis in 2024, playing his last match against Botic Van de Zandschulp at the Davis Cup Finals.
Although he is no longer an active tennis player, Nadal is still heavily involved in the sport.
Perhaps his biggest involvement with tennis today is the Rafa Nadal Academy, and Nadal has now sent a former world number one a message on social media after she visited him in Mallorca.
Rafael Nadal sends message to Ana Ivanovic on social media
Nadal is a record 14-time French Open champion, having won six more titles at the tournament than any other man in history.
One of his 14 title victories came in 2008, the same year that Serbian Ana Ivanovic won her sole Grand Slam title in Paris.
Ivanovic has been retired since 2016, but has shown that she still enjoys tennis after visiting the Rafa Nadal Academy.
Following this visit, Ivanovic wrote a message to Nadal on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Thank you for such a warm welcome and showing us around the impressive @rnadalacademy! Can’t wait to be back.”
This was met with a response by Nadal himself, who wrote, “It was a pleasure! We hope to see you again soon!”
What Rafael Nadal told Ana Ivanovic in 2008
Nadal and Ivanovic were victorious together at the French Open in 2008, and two years ago she revealed a conversation they had.
In an appearance on the Alesto podcast, Ivanovic revealed that Nadal admitted that he was not sure how long he would be able to continue competing at the top of the sport.
Honestly, we didn’t think it would last this long,” said Ivanovic. “What is really fascinating to me is how he manages to keep his body fit and healthy. It’s a hard sport, it has a big impact on the body, we can see it from Roger [Federer] and Rafa.
“I remember Rafa telling me in 2008, ‘I don’t know how long I will last’, and here is Novak [Djokovic], fighting. The fact that Novak is so strong and healthy is really fascinating to me, kudos to him for that.”