Roger Federer ‘didn’t expect’ to cry over retirement after Rafael Nadal also in tears | Tennis | Sport
Roger Federer has revealed that he was surprised by how “emotional” he was as he ended his 24-year career on day one of the Laver Cup. The 41-year-old played his final match alongside long-time rival Rafael Nadal as they lost in the doubles before both men could be seen in floods of tears as Federer’s retirement finally became a reality. And he explained what each final moment of his career felt like as he waved goodbye to professional tennis.
Federer ended his career in front of a packed crowd in London’s O2 Arena as he played one final match alongside his biggest rival. ‘Fedal’ went down to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in a final set tiebreak, marking the end of the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s career.
Both men were in floods of tears afterwards, as Federer struggled to hold back sobs during his on-court interview before he and Nadal held hands, crying together while Ellie Goulding performed. Following the touching farewell, the 41-year-old has admitted he didn’t expect to be so emotional and cry alongside Nadal.
“Of course was emotional,” he told Eurosport on Sunday after processing the moment. “I didn’t expect myself to be this emotional funnily enough because I really thought I had dealt with it plenty of times beforehand.”
The former world No 1 was still more than happy with how everything played out, as he continued: “But of course you add the atmosphere to it, you add the music to it everything was perfect, everything was beautiful.”
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Federer and Nadal weren’t the only players in tears, as the 103-time title winner explained what it was like to see his fellow Big Four rivals emotional about his retirement. “It was for me obviously a very special moment and special day,” he said.
“And I think that’s what I will remember the most is the faces, the hugs, the things I was able to tell the guys one last time. How much they have meant to me, what I wish them. And of course at one point I look over and I see Novak [Djokovic] also being emotional, my family, Andy [Murray] was completely gone at one point. I think we all had flashes of our careers going by and knowing that we were on borrowed time for so many years already.”
As well as seeing his rivals’ emotional faces, Federer also detailed some of the smaller moments he would remember from the final day of his 24-year career. “You have these little flashes like ‘oh it’s my last match’, ‘oh it’s my last practice’ and you go into little details as well that are very unique,” he explained.
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“Like the coin toss. Stefan Edberg was there, my childhood idol. Warming up with Rafa I look over and see Carlos Moya is standing there, Rafa’s coach who was my first top five win ever back in ‘99. The last good luck hug from my team, that obviously gets you worked up as well.”
Sharing what he told himself in the overwhelming moment, he said: “As I walk out to the crowd for the third, fourth time I was talking to myself out loud and saying ‘I’m happy, I’m not sad.”
The 41-year-old had told his two sets of twins the same thing earlier in the evening as his children joined him on court, and he concluded: “There’s no reason to be down or anything. I’ve had a wonderful career, I’m healthy. Look, I’ve had a dream career, my dream came true. To be able to say goodbye here, it was incredible.”
