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Legend Federer reveals he shed a tear before his last Wimbledon

ROGER FEDERER revealed he cried before his final Wimbledon as he made an emotional farewell to tennis last night.

But the Swiss superstar insisted the sport has a bright future in the shape of new US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz and the next generation.

Federer walked out to a massive ovation at London’s O2 as he played the final match of his career, partnering Rafa Nadal in the doubles at the Laver Cup.

It was the climax to an emotional few days after the 41-year-old announced his retirement.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner had not played a competitive match since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinal at Wimbledon last year.

Federer still won four matches at SW19 last year – including a defeat of Cam Norrie in the third round – before losing his last set 6-0 to the Pole.

And the eight-time champion said: “In that moment in the tournament, you still believe. But, when it’s all said and done, you’re like: ‘Jeez, I was miles away.’ What I do remember is when I lost to Felix Auger-aliassime in Halle, I cried after the match and I knew I would not win Wimbledon. So I was realistic about my chances.

“Once you are in the moment, you try to convince yourself, but I knew it was going to be a difficult Wimbledon.”

Last month’s first Slam triumph means 19-year-old Alcaraz (left) is the youngest world No.1 in history, but Federer never got to tackle him. “Of course, it is disappointing never to have played against him,” said Federer (right). “I followed what he did at the US Open and the whole year. It was fantastic.

“I always said that there will be new superstars in tennis – he is one of them.

“Sometimes people have a habit of not believing it, like when Pete Sampras and Andre

Agassi left. They said, ‘What are we going to have now?’ Well, it was Novak, Rafa, myself, Murray, Stan Wawrinka. It is a gruelling, tough sport. No doubt about it. And I was very happy with what I saw at the US Open. Some great matches.

‘‘Tennis always creates another great storyline when you dig deeper into the personalities of the players. I think they all have an amazing story. I really enjoyed what I saw and I’m sure the future is bright.” Federer and Nadal were oncourt cheerleaders earlier yesterday as US Open finalist Casper Ruud won the first point for Team Europe by beating Team World’s Jack Sock 6-4 5-7 10-7.

Stefanos Tsitsipas doubled Europe’s lead by crushing Diego Schwartzman 6-2 6-1 but Britain’s Andy Murray went down 7-5 3-6 7-10 to Aussie Alex de Minaur, who beat Liam Broady and Jack Draper at Wimbledon, before Federer and Nadal

took to the court.