“I’d Love to Play With Rafa” – Roger Federer Eyes a Fitting Farewell With Rafael Nadal for One Last Hurrah
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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – SEPTEMBER 20: Rafael Nadal of Team Europe and teammate Roger Federer celebrate during the singles match between Stefanos Tsitsipas of Team Europe and Taylor Fritz of Team World during Day One of the Laver Cup 2019 at Palexpo on September 20, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Laver Cup will see six players from the rest of the World competing against their counterparts from Europe. Team World is captained by John McEnroe and Team Europe is captained by Bjorn Borg. The tournament runs from September 20-22. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup)
It was the year 2017 which marked the very first Laver Cup competition. Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal took part in the tournament to play for Team Europe. In addition, the Swiss master and his on-court rival Nadal played doubles on the second day of the event.
What happened next was a moment every tennis fan had been waiting for. While we’re used to seeing these two tennis greats on opposite sides of the court, their doubles match at the Laver Cup was a sight to behold.
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Having said that, in a matter of days, Federer will retire from tennis after participating in this year’s Laver Cup. And earlier in an interview, Federer talked about him wanting to play alongside Rafa.
Roger Federer wants to team up with Rafael Nadal in this year’s Laver Cup
The 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer arrived in London earlier this week and has already started training for the tournament. Earlier, he had an exclusive interview with Barbara Schett for Eurosport. During the interview, Federer talked about his decision to retire and his wish to play with Rafael Nadal for the last time.
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“For me, it’s just too much for the body right now. I had to start slowing things down as well once I realized that my career was coming to an end,” said the 41-year-old.
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He further went on to say, “Of course, I’d love to play with Rafa. We’ll see if it’s going to happen. we’ll speak to Bjorn and Rafa about it. I think it would be a beautiful moment. two Rivals getting together at the very end and having that one more match together on the same side is going to be very special.”
Federer and Nadal in doubles together at the Laver Cup for the very first time
The Nadal and Federer duo faced Sam Querrey and Jack Sock of Team World in the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017. And more importantly, the duo didn’t disappoint the fans.
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They came out strong and won the first set easily, with a score of 6-4. Querrey and Sock, however, fought back valiantly and won the second set 6-1 to level the scores. However, Nadal and Federer showed great composure in the super tiebreaker, which they ultimately managed to win by 10-5.
Written by:
Edited by:
Jito Tenson