- Roger Federer’s great career ended in London at the Laver Cup.
- Alongside Rafael Nadal, he lost the doubles against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 11-9.
It would also have been too cheesy if Roger Federer’s incredible career had ended with a win alongside Rafael Nadal. However, the chances would have been there: At the score of 9: 8, “Fedal” had a match ball when Federer served, which they could not use because of a mistake by the Swiss.
Federer enjoyed and convinced
The defeat is not a blemish for the end of his career. On the contrary: the match was close and Federer showed that even at the age of 41, after persistent knee problems and recently no match practice, he can still keep up with the best players in the world. Federer didn’t allow a single breakball in his service games. The end of this incredible career is all the more worthy because the «Maestro» was able to enjoy it alongside Rafael Nadal, his desired doubles partner and long-time rival.
He did this to the fullest. The mood of the 41-year-old Swiss and his 36-year-old Spanish team-mate was excellent at all times. The two often laughed after points or before agreements, but without missing the seriousness of the points. Federer seemed to enjoy the evening and really soaked up the atmosphere.
This was also the case, for example, when a fan did a striptease with 8 Federer and Nadal shirts during the break. “In the end he has to be naked,” joked the Basel bidder, and a microphone caught the reaction.
Federer provided the first magical moment in the third game. He played a forehand into the opposing field through a small hole between the net and the net post – which of course gave his opponents a point as the ball did not cross the edge of the net. But it was a first highlight, a sequence that will go viral.
Worthy farewell game
In the first round of Federer’s farewell game, everything stayed in line for a long time before “Fedal” broke their opponents Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe at the decisive moment. To make it 6:4, they took Tiafoe’s serve and secured the passage.
In the second set, after a break by Sock/Tiafoe to make it 2-1 and a service breakthrough by Federer/Nadal to make it 3-3, the tie-break had to be decided. The “Team World” duo took the lead and never gave it away to the Europeans. The final score was 7:2.
The game was decided – how could it have been otherwise – by a nerve-wracking champions tiebreak. The two Americans countered a perfect start by Federer/Nadal (3:0) with 4 points in a row. There were mini-breaks from Sock/Tiafoe again to make it 8:7, followed immediately by 2 service breakthroughs to make it 9:8 before Federer’s match ball, which was described at the beginning, landed in the net. This gave Sock and Tiafoe a boost. A return winner from the latter was followed by a forehand winner from Sock that ended Roger Federer’s career for good.
London sinks into a sea of tears
Then came the emotional farewell. Not only Federer shed many tears, almost all teammates, especially the big rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, were overwhelmed. Of course, the family got emotional too. His 4 children were present and visibly touched, as were his wife Mirka and his parents Lynette and Robert. They all gave the farewell a worthy setting.