ROGER AND OUT
Tears still flowing after Fed the GOAT hangs up his racket Nadal: When he leaves an important part of my life is leaving too
RAFA NADAL revealed “a part of my life is gone” after he cried with Roger Federer following the Swiss superstar’s last match at the Laver Cup.
Federer broke down speaking to The O2 crowd during his fond farewell – and was joined by Nadal and other Europe team-mates. After 24 years on tour, an amazing career ended in tears of joy.
“What I will remember is the emotional faces I saw,” the Swiss said. “Rafa was one of them.”
And the Spaniard (below) said: “At the end everything became super emotional. I’m a pretty sensitive person. I’m not worried about crying. Crying is good. You need to let go of these emotions. A part of my life is gone so it’s hard. When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too.”
Federer and Nadal lost a doubles match against Team World pairing Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock in the early hours of Saturday.
But the eight-time Wimbledon champion said he will best remember the standing ovation and tearful hugs from his team-mates, wife Mirka and his family before a surprise on-court show from Ellie Goulding.
Federer, who announced his retirement after undergoing three operations on his right knee, said: “It has been a wonderful day. I told the guys I’m happy, I’m not sad. It feels great to be here and I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time.
“It does feel like a celebration to me. I wanted to feel like this at the end and it is exactly what I hoped for so thank you.
“I was able to remind myself always on the court again how wonderful this is. The last two days have been tough. But tonight is happiness. It has been a perfect journey and I would do it all over again. To be not alone on that court for an entire evening, it helped a lot.” Nadal dashed home to be with pregnant wife Xisca after the match. But the Australian and French Open champion, who shares 42 Grand Slam titles and a very close relationship with Federer, said: “It was important to me as I knew how important it was to him. I couldn’t miss his day. “I have had to deal with a different pressure than what you are used to in professional life. Luckily everything is much calmer. Now I want to get back to normality.” Federer, who finished his press conference at 2am before returning to support Team Europe yesterday, will now look for his new normality.
Earlier this week, he said he was open to commentating at Wimbledon – and hinted at more exhibition appearances.
As tributes poured in from fellow sports stars and devoted fans, the 41-year-old said: “This is not the end – life goes on. I’m healthy, I’m happy, everything’s great. I have no plans.
“I would love to go and play places I have never played before or go say lots of thank yous to all the people that have been so supportive of me.
“The people who maybe would have also loved to be here but who couldn’t make it.
“Maybe there is another way down the stretch we can party all together.”
It has been a perfect journey and I would do it all over again