Roger Federer played his final career match, and he lost it against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe, with the Americans facing some backlash.
When the Swiss Maestro made the decision to retire from the professional tennis at the 2022 Laver Cup, all the focus turned to his opponents. Federer teamed up with Rafael Nadal, while Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe stood on the other side of the net.
The question was simple. Are Sock and Tiafoe going to go all-out and try to beat Federer in his farewell match, or are they going to hand him the victory, given that it's his retirement match.
The format of the tournament also created a chance to do so. The Laver Cup is an exhibition tournament, yet some players take it very seriously, and even if the American duo lost, their team could still win the competition as the match counted only for 1 point.
Many supporters had hoped that Federer would leave tennis with a triumph, but that did not happen. He came very near to winning, but ultimately, the Americans were successful in taking the victory following a match tie-break.
Federer and Nadal had a match point on their serve, but ultimately, they lost the match 6-4, 6-7(2), 9-11 in what was the Swiss player's last match. Following the match, due to his outstanding performance in the final stretch, Tiafoe received a lot of negative feedback on social media.
The American played really well, showing respect to Federer by not making things easy for him. Unfortunately, as a result, fans were posting all kinds of negative comments on Tiafoe's Instagram account, which a fan posted noted on Twitter.
It's hardly a surprise, given the passion of some fans, but it's still disappointing to see, considering how much Tiafoe plays for fans even when it detriments him.
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