Roger Federer bids teary farewell to tennis career, longtime rival Nadal weeps too

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Nakul Shivani • 1 Years ago
Picture courtesy: Twitter
Picture courtesy: Twitter

 

London

Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal was captured in an emotional moment as his long-time rival and friend Roger Federer bid goodbye to the sport following the doubles clash at the ongoing Laver Cup 2022.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion, 41, and Nadal, playing for Team Europe, went down 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 9-11 against Team World's Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock.

When the match ended, Federer hugged Nadal as well as Tiafoe and Sock before he began crying. Nadal was also captured in tears after their loss in Federer's last match in competitive tennis.

Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of men's tennis, also acknowledged this moment and shared a GIF that captured both the legends sitting together and crying.

Though close friends, Federer and Nadal are also fierce rivals on the tennis court.

The duo has dominated the world of tennis for the last two decades. Federer first battled the Spanish legend at ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami in 2004.

Since then, they have faced off against each other in a total of 40 matches. Nadal emerged victorious 24 times, while Federer won 16 matches.

Federer has won 103 ATP singles titles and overall 1,251 matches throughout his illustrious career.

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Federer has also won 20 Grand Slam titles, including a record-making eight Wimbledon men's singles titles. Federer's glorious career saw him reign at the top of the ATP Rankings for 310 weeks.