Knowing you can trust him in the big moments, seeing his decision-making, seeing his thought process was very interesting, and I will take these memories for a lifetime, for sure.” “It’s been an absolute pleasure sharing the court with Rafa on the same side of the net. “After this we will be rivals again, thank God, or unfortunately, however you want to see it, but this was something very special.

And we will always and forever be rivals as long as we are active,” assured Federer after the match. So when they finally teamed up for doubles on Saturday representing Team Europe, Federer said it was a “great moment”. They’ve only practiced together once, at the World Tour Finals, since they are first and foremost rivals, and wouldn’t want to expose any details of their games that could be used against them in a match one day. You couldn’t look away if you tried.Īs much as Federer and Nadal have portrayed a friendly relationship over the years, we’ve only ever seen them share a court for one reason: Competing against each other in a match (with the odd charity event here and there). Who will play on the ad court and who will play on the deuce court? No matter how staged that whole recording looked like, it was still, admittedly, must-see television. The masterminds behind the whole event - Federer and his management company Team8 - also recorded the doubles pair’s pre-match tactical session with their captain Bjorn Borg. Just testing reaction time, obviously 🙄 /IATmeZacCJ And, naturally, each of those entities' farewells to Federer.‘#FedalUtd’ was trending on social media, thanks to what has to be the most gif-able tennis match we’ve witnessed in years. Or, better, the farewells, plural: Federer's to tennis, to the fans, to his competitors and colleagues. The occasion was, after all, about the farewell itself. The truth is that the victors, the statistics and the score - 4-6, 7-6 (2), 11-9 - did not matter, and were all so entirely beside the point. Switzerland's Roger Federer reacts after playing his final game a doubles with Spain's Rafael Nadal of Team Europe in the 2022 Laver Cup at the O2 Arena in London, early on Sept. He wrapped up his days as a professional player with a loss in doubles alongside his longtime rival Rafael Nadal for Team Europe in the Laver Cup against Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock of Team World. This day, this match, had to come, of course, for Roger Federer, and for tennis, just as it inevitably must for every athlete in every sport.įederer bid adieu Friday night with one last contest before he heads into retirement at age 41 after a superlative career that included 20 Grand Slam titles and a statesman's role.

Rafa and roger