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'It would be special': Roger Federer hopes to partner Rafael Nadal in his farewell match at Laver Cup

Legendary tennis player Roger Federer, who is set to retire after the end of the Laver Cup this week, has expressed his desire to partner his long-time rival Rafael Nadal in his farewell match. The former world number one confirmed that he would not play in the singles and would feature in a doubles match on Friday, after which he would withdraw.

TN Sports Desk

Updated Sep 22, 2022, 06:35 IST

Roger Federer has expressed his desire to partner Rafael Nadal in his farewell match at Laver Cup. Picture Credit: Twitter/@LaverCup

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

This year, the Laver Cup tennis tournament will take place in London from September 23–25.
Roger Federer will retire from professional tennis at the end of this tournament.
He has expressed his desire to partner Rafael Nadal in his farewell match.

Tennis legend and former world number one men’s player Roger Federer, who announced his retirement plans last week, hopes to partner his long-time rival on the court—Rafael Nadal—in his farewell match at the Laver Cup tennis tournament in London this week.

The 41-year-old, who has won 20 Grand Slam titles in his 24-year-long professional tennis career, took to social media last week to announce his decision to bid goodbye to tennis. The Swiss maestro announced that the upcoming Laver Cup tennis tournament, which starts on Friday (September 23) and runs till Sunday (September 25), will be his last tournament as a professional.

In an interview with Swiss media on Tuesday, the legendary tennis player confirmed that he wouldn’t play in the singles match at the upcoming tournament in London and that instead, his final match would be a doubles game for Team Europe. He also confirmed that he would withdraw from the Laver Cup after the doubles match to allow Matteo Berrettini to take his spot.

But for the final doubles match of his career, Federer has expressed his desire to partner Nadal, against whom he has featured in a few of the most iconic matches in history. Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams in comparison to Federer’s 20. During the late 2000s, the two used to face each other in a number of Grand Slam finals, with the final of 2008 at Wimbledon remaining the most iconic one. The two have met each other 40 times on the tour.

At the Laver Cup this year, apart from sharing the same dugout with Nadal, Federer will also team up with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic for Team Europe. It will be the first occasion when the ‘Fab Four’ of men’s tennis will be a part of the same team.

"I think it would be quite a unique situation if it (pairing with Nadal) were to happen. For as long as we battled together, there was always this respect for one another—our families, our coaching teams, we always got along really well," Federer told a news conference in London.

"For us as well, to go through the careers we've both had and come out the other side and be able to have a nice relationship, I think it may be a great message as well, not just for tennis and sports but maybe even beyond."

"For that reason, it would be great. I don't know if it's going to happen, but it would be a special occasion."

Even though Federer has expressed his desire to partner Nadal, he maintained that he would leave the pairing to the team captain, Bjorn Borg. And if Federer and Nadal pair up for the doubles match on Friday, then it will be the second occasion when these two will combine. In 2017, they teamed up to beat Sam Querrey and Jack Sock in a doubles match in the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup.

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