‘Tonight was all happiness’ – Roger Federer reflects on emotional farewell in Laver Cup defeat with Rafael Nadal

It was not quite the perfect ending for the Swiss superstar as he and Nadal suffered an agonising and dramatic 4-6 7-6(2) 11-9 defeat to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe at the O2 Arena in London.

Still, it was a night of celebration and very moving moments for Federer, his fellow players and family members as the tears flowed following the conclusion of the match.

“The match, yes, in itself, sure, is special, but it’s really everything that happened after because I wasn’t aware who was going to come to sing, what was going to happen, where I should go, what was expected of me, or how long it was going to go,” Federer said in the post-match press conference.

“Then I guess looking around and seeing how everybody got emotional, obviously it’s even better, or even worse, I’m not sure what to say.”

The Swiss superstar also spoke about his approach to the match and what the build-up has been like to the final, long-awaited farewell of a glittering career.

“Some moments I was horribly nervous like before a big finals, then some other moments I totally forgot about it because I was with the guys and we were joking.

“Classic goofiness comes through, and you forget about everything and have a good conversation. You forget that actually, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m about to play in 15 minutes.’”

“The last two days have been tough, you know, to say the least. Thankfully in moments I totally forgot about it, slept great, everything was wonderful, I could enjoy it. And because of that, I think I will be able to have a better recollection of how it went, because if it’s all just stress throughout and I want it to be only perfect, I know I will remember half of it.

“For me I didn’t have fireworks in my head where I see my career flashing by, all the things I’m going to miss. It was hard for me making phone calls, letting people know that this decision is happening. There I felt pain, but now, tonight was all happiness.”

While Federer’s competitive career is now over, the Swiss has not ruled out featuring in future exhibition matches, allowing others to see the great man enter the court once again.

“The message from me was just making sure I relay my passion for the sport to the fans, and I let them know that hopefully we’ll see each other again on a different type of tennis court.

“I have no plans whatsoever, where, how, when. All I know, I would love to go and play places I have never played before or go say thank yous for years to come to all the people that have been so supportive of me.

“Because the hard part about the Laver Cup was that tickets were already sold out. You know, the people who maybe would have also loved to be here couldn’t make it. Maybe there is another way down the stretch we can party all together.”

Rafael Nadal was glowing in praise of a long-time adversary that he battled against 40 times during his career, and explained how Federer’s exploits inspired him to reach such stratospheric heights within tennis.

“Roger always there in front of me. For me was always the guy to beat. So at some point we were probably the biggest rivals – I think always in a very good way. We have never had any big issues and always respected each other and our families too.

“But our personal relationship has got better and better over the years and we approach life in a similar way.

“On court we have completely opposite styles, and that’s what probably makes our matches and our rivalry so big and interesting.

“I’m very proud to be part of his career in some way. But even happier to finish our career like friends after everything we shared on court as rivals.”

– – – – –