Roger Federer on Nadal: 'Will never forget what he did for me in London'
Roger Federercelebrated his farewell to tennis at the Laver Cup over the weekend. How did he fare and how did the doubles match with Rafael Nadal come about - and the famous photo of the two holding hands?
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Sep 28, 2022, 12:39 pm
The end of his great career, it got emotional: Roger Federer surrounded by his loved ones after the farewell double with Rafael Nadal, surrounded by his teammates, above all Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, with whom he had spent so many hours together on the court .
The doubles with Nadal: a wonderful conclusion, even if it was not clear for a long time whether it would even come to that. Federer said in an interview with the New York Times on Monday that he called Nadal after he left the US Open and informed him of his resignation. Linked to the hope of Nadal appearing in London. Even if he only saw a 50:50 or 60:40 chance of saying goodbye on the court for himself. Nadal also had some construction sites in his home country. So they promised to keep in touch.
Nadal then gave the green light pretty quickly. Nadal promised that he would try everything possible to be there with Federer - "and that was incredible for me," said Federer. "It showed once again what we mean to each other and how much respect we have for each other." The feeling of having a tough rivalry, but still showing: It's just tennis - also a sign that both wanted to set. "It was an incredible effort from Rafa and I will never forget what he did for me in London."
Federer, Nadal and the famous photo holding hands
After the game, a photo was taken that went around the world: the crying Federer and Nadal holding hands sitting on the bench - for many the sports photo par excellence, captured by the photographer Ella Ling.
In the meantime he cried so much, said Federer, because he thought about how happy he was to be able to share this moment with everyone. Ellie Goulding had sung that the focus was on her, "Sometimes you forget that photos are being taken. I think in a moment because you couldn't talk because of the music, I touched him as a kind of secret thank you ." Also the other photos, the crazy, happy ones of the evening, "I hope to get them too. Because they mean a lot to me."
In general, he feels good, Federer assured. "I lost my last singles. My last doubles. My voice from cheering for the team. I lost as a team last time. I lost my job. But I'm very happy."
Weirdly enough, everyone believes in a fairytale ending. "And for me it was - but in a way I could never have imagined."
You can find the entire interview here !