Tony Godsick, CEO of Team8 and longtime collaborator with Roger Federer, teased the possibility of an exhibition tour featuring Federer and Rafael Nadal during a visit to the Tennis Channel Desk on Friday. The Laver Cup chairman revealed ongoing conversations about bringing the tennis legends back to the court in a senior tour.
“I’ve been pressuring him a little bit, saying, ‘Come on, people want to see you play again. You can play a couple senior things,’” Godsick said, referring to Federer. “We’ve been talking with Rafa a little bit about putting together a tour. Roger just wanted to make sure his knee was fine. He didn’t want to be totally broken after his career, so he gave it a little time. He’s not there yet but he’s in the gym a lot. I think Rafa’s interested, I don’t want to speak for Rafa. But it would be great to see these guys out there.”
Godsick also hinted at the involvement of other stars from their generation, noting the potential to fill “some nice stadiums and venues” with a seniors tour featuring recently retired greats.
Federer himself expressed enthusiasm for the idea earlier this week during an interview with CNBC. “I love Rafa! I played four hours of tennis the other day here in San Francisco and in LA for another hour and a half,” he said. “I know that Rafa is totally open to maybe play some tennis. It sounds terrible, seniors tennis, to us, but maybe we can create a tour, like a ‘Fedal Tour’ or something like that. It would be cool.”
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Federer also reflected on his motivation behind starting the Laver Cup, aiming to celebrate tennis legends past and present. “Maybe with a seniors tour, we’ve had a little of that in tennis…but there’s a lot of appetite for seeing past champions in tennis as well. I could maybe look into that with Rafa, for sure.”
Federer and Nadal famously kicked off the inaugural Laver Cup together in 2017, inspiring a new generation of players, including 2025 rookie Jakub Mensik. Their final on-court appearance as a duo came during the 2022 edition, which marked Federer’s last professional match.
Godsick highlighted Federer’s active role beyond retirement: “People think, ‘Oh, he’s retired, so you’re going to retire now.’ It’s just the opposite. Before, he had the excuse, ‘If I’m practicing or playing, don’t bother me.’ Now he doesn’t practice or play anymore, so he has more time to create and think about things.”
Federer remains deeply involved with the Laver Cup, attending meetings and providing detailed feedback. “He has a little book he keeps in his bag and comes with 25 things we either did really well or could improve on,” Godsick added.
The eighth edition of the Laver Cup kicked off with Team Europe taking a 2-0 lead after two tightly contested matches, with more exciting tennis to come in the night session featuring Flavio Cobolli vs. Joao Fonseca. Team World will be looking to capture its third-ever Laver Cup title.
