Swiss tennis star Roger Federer’s professional career ended on Saturday with a Laver Cup defeat to long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal. Federer and Nadal were defeated by Team World’s Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 11-9 at the O2.
After the match, Federer became emotional as he recalled some of the biggest highlights of his career. Seeing Federer, Nadal also couldn’t hold back his tears and he also became quite emotional.
The moment was captured just after the match when Nadal hugged Tiafoe and Sock alongside each other before Federer broke down in tears. Nadal also failed to control his tears as it was Federer’s last match in competitive tennis.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) also acknowledged the moment and shared a GIF, showing both legends sitting together and crying. They tweeted, “How are we getting over this? @rogerfederer | @RafaelNadal | #RForever.”
How are we getting over this? @rogerfederer | @RafaelNadal | #RForever pic.twitter.com/cpOfSznp4X
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 24, 2022
The official handle of the Australian Open shared a picture of Nadal crying with Federer. They captioned the post, “Biggest rivals, best mates #Fedal.” Throughout his career, Federer enjoyed great rivalries with Nadal and Djokovic. Against Spaniard Nadal, he played 40 times while the Swiss tennis player trailed 16-24. Federer trailed 23-27 against Djokovic.
Both tennis players Federer and Nadal are known to be good friends. But on the tennis court, they are locked in a fierce rivalry, dominating the tennis circuit for the past two decades. Federer first met Nadal at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami in 2004 and the rest is history. The pair then faced each other a further 39 times, for a total of 40 encounters.