Roger Federer ends his career with surprising loss alongside friend and rival Rafael Nadal
ATP
Roger Federer ended his tennis career with a loss alongside his good friend and rival, Rafael Nadal, at the 2022 Laver Cup.
During their lengthy careers, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal teamed up only once, and at the 2022 Laver Cup, they played on the same side of the court for the second time.
The 2022 Laver Cup will always be remembered as the event where Federer played his last competitive match. And he played it with no other than Nadal as the duo took on Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock, who represented Team World.
No matter the result, Federer knew that he was stepping into the O2 Arena for his last match, and he hoped it would be a victorious one. And that's exactly how the experienced duo started against Americans.
Despite facing the first break point, they remained calm and eventually got their first break point. That was enough for them to win the first set 6-4 and get an important lead.
However, the American duo had a much better start to the second set as they got the first break and soon led 3-1. Yet, Federer and Nadal were determined to use all of their experience to turn the set around and send the Swiss Maestro into retirement with a victory.
After getting the break back, the comeback looked more than real, and the crowd in London also sensed it. But it wasn't to be for the legendary duo in the second set as they lost in the tie-break 2-7, so the match had to be decided in a match tie-break, played as first to ten points.
After Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the first two points for Team Europe and Alex de Minaur scored the only Team World point, Sock and Tiafoe denied the Swiss Maestro a happy ending.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion and one of the most influential players in the history of tennis lost after two hours and 16 minutes, alongside his very good friend and rival Rafael Nadal, and ended his professional tennis career after losing 6-4, 6-7(2), 9-11.
