An important part of me is also leaving the men’s Tour with the retirement of Roger Federer, said a weeping Rafael Nadal as his rival Roger Federer bade farewell to tennis at the Laver Cup match on Friday.
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As soon as the match ended, the stadium was echoed with loud cheers accompanied by “Fedal” as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are jointly nicknamed, on to court. After entertaining the sellout crowd during the match, both were overcome by emotions. Roger Federer was cheered by his teammates of Team Europe. The most enthralling rivals were left in tears after their defeat in the doubles final at Lavers Cup on Saturday.
A video of the duo has become widely popular across the internet in which Rafael Nadal, sitting courtside with Roger Federer was seen crying as his great rival bid an emotional farewell to tennis.
The duo combined for Team Europe in Lavers Cup. The international indoor hard court men’s team tennis tournament is played between Europe and Team World. The duo faced a crushing defeat at the finale at London’s O2 Arena.
After the final match, the 22 times Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal said it was a tough night for him emotionally as their defeat to the American pair of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe brought an end to the 41-year-old Federer’s dazzling career.
“For me, has been a huge honour to be a part of this amazing moment of the history of our sport, and at the same time a lot of years sharing a lot of things,” the Spaniard said of Federer.
“When Roger leaves the tour, yeah, an important part of my life is leaving too because all the moments he has been next or in front me in important moments of my life. So has been emotional (to) see the family, see all the people. Yeah, difficult to describe. But, yeah, amazing moment.” said Rafael Nadal.
Rogere Federer has won 20 major singles titles in his career. He has played around 40 times against Rafael Nadal. He met a knee injury in 2021. Since then the tennis legend had never played any match. Last week he announced his retirement at the age of 41.
The spectacular performance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has made their rivalries counted as one of the most compelling in the world of sports.
The fact that Roger Federer chose to play his career’s last match with Nadal on his side of the net, shows that their friendship is far more bigger than their world-famous rivalry.
“I think every year the personal relationship gets better and better, daily.I think in some way we understand in the end we have a lot of things similar. We approach life probably similarly.” ,” said Nadal, reported Reuters.
Rafael Nadal regarded their opposite styles of playing matches as the main reason behind their rivalry’s global popularity
“Very proud to be part of his career in some way. But even happier to finish our career like friends after everything we shared on the court like rivals,” said Nadal.
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