The last match of a unique career: At the Laver Cup in London, Roger Federer said goodbye to professional tennis alongside Rafael Nadal with a defeat.
Roger Federer fought for every ball in the last match of his career, 20,000 spectators celebrated every point of the Swiss, but at 0:25 a.m. local time the moment to say goodbye had come: in front of the eyes of his wife Mirka, parents Robert and Lynette and numerous tennis Despite a match point, the 41-year-old said goodbye to icons from all over the world with a three-set defeat on the big stage. However, the result was irrelevant.
“I’m not sad, I’m happy,” said Federer after his last career appearance. “I’m glad I held out the whole match, even if it wasn’t enough to win in the end.”
Federer was frenetically celebrated as soon as he entered the arena in London, on the pitch he once again showed all his skills with smashes, aces and volleys, and his injured knee also held up. Together with Rafael Nadal, the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles lost to the US doubles Jack Sock / Frances Tiafoe 6: 4, 6: 7 (2: 7), 9:11. In the duel between Team Europe and the rest of the world, the Laver Cup is 2:2.
The stage could hardly have been bigger: Alexander Zverev had come, namesake Rod Laver anyway, teammates Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and captain Björn Borg cheered on the maestro on the bench. And Federer delivered: In the third game he caused disbelieving looks when he sent the ball through a hole between the post and the net into the opposing half with a crashing forehand.
Sock/Tiafoe tease “Fedal”
However, Sock and Tiafoe proved to be spoilsports, forcing “Fedal” into the third and silencing the hall. “I’m too tired to get a bottle,” said Federer jokingly to his teammates shortly before the end of the second set when changing sides. In the match tie-break, even a match ball was not enough when the score was 9:8.
Federer and Nadal had practiced the last big performance the day before – and were in illustrious company. All four superstars of the golden era that is now ending stood together on the pitch: on the one hand Federer and Nadal, whose rivalry and mutual respect set standards. On the other side of the net Djokovic and Murray.
They were called the “Big 4”, but have only been the “Big 3” since Murray’s hip surgery at the latest – and now only Nadal and Djokovic are left as serious title contenders at the Grand Slams. The fans are wondering: how much longer? Nostalgia could be felt at the public training in the Millennium Dome, but also enthusiasm – the wave was already sloshing through the arena.
“The greatest icon in tennis history” goes
In general, the Laver Cup, which aims to produce iconic images, is a foretaste of the coming years. Federer plans his future with exhibition fights. In front of 20,000 or 50,000 spectators? No stadium seems to be too small for the Swiss tennis retiree. A role in the Laver Cup, which Federer invented with his agency Team8, is also possible.
He has won 20 Grand Slam titles, collected 103 titles in total, has been at the top of the world rankings for more than 300 weeks and has earned hundreds of millions of euros from his sport and his sponsors. But his legacy cannot be measured in numbers. Toni Nadal said Federer was “the greatest icon in tennis history” in an interview with “El Pais”.
His nephew “Rafa” sees “the normal cycle in life at the dawn of the new era. Some people go and others have to come,” he said: “Only this time it’s one of the most important, if not the most important, players in the history of this Sports, who is leaving after a super great and long career.”