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London (AFP) – Roger Federer announced that his last professional match will be a doubles match at the Laver Cup in London and he would like to play it alongside Rafa Nadal, before a withdrawal after which he vowed not to become a “ghost”.
The Swiss Roger Federer, 41, announced last week that he is leaving the competition, unable to recover his level after several knee operations.
When a legend retires after more than two decades of career, with 20 Grand Slam titles, each event is the last: last match, last press conference.
Federer appeared before journalists in London before the Laver Cup, which from Friday to Sunday will face a European team made up of him, Nadal, Djokovic, Tsitsipas, Ruud and Murray, against another from the rest of the world, made up of Schwartzman, De Miñaur , Auger-Aliassime, Fritz, Tiafoe, and Sock.
Impeccably dressed in a navy blue suit and sneakers. The jacket rolled up to the elbows and a white polo shirt that highlighted his tan. As serene and slow as ever, but with a mixture of sadness and relief in his voice and a look full of emotion.
He recalled his first years as a junior, starting in 1993. “We would never have thought that I would be sitting here at 41 years old giving my last press conference, remembering all the moments and games that I have played,” he said.
He was unable to list the best moments, often after games, sharing impressions with his team. And the meetings with the fans.
And he claimed to have accepted the difficult withdrawal: “The hardest part (…) is when you realize that it is the end.” “I am not satisfied, but I am happy with the decision, because it is the right one and I have thought about it a lot.”
Tandem with Nadal?
Neither the organizers of the Laver Cup, nor the captains of the two teams, Björn Borg and John McEnroe respectively, have yet announced how the matches will be divided.
But Federer asked to only play “one doubles on Friday night” because, he said, he knows his “limitations”.
“Björn said it’s fine,” he said and that he would later be replaced by the Italian Matteo Berrettini. “Obviously I’m nervous because I haven’t played in so long,” he admitted.
Playing that match alongside Nadal, his longest-running rival, “of course, without a doubt, I think it could be quite a unique situation,” he said, underscoring their mutual respect. “It could be a special moment.”
The last time Federer played on the professional circuit was the 2021 edition of Wimbledon, after which he had to undergo knee surgery for the third time. He last won a Grand Slam at the 2018 Australian Open.
This July he returned to the pitch at the All England Club in London, but only to take part in the centenary celebrations of its legendary center court, and to express his desire to play there once more.
However, it was not possible. “I was getting more tired of having to put in more effort to believe that I was going to turn things around and I started to get pessimistic, then I got a scan result that wasn’t what I wanted,” she explained.
“I will not be a ghost”
The last few weeks had been emotionally charged, he acknowledged, searching for the right way, the “right” words, to announce his retirement and his feelings, a strange mixture of “sweet and bitter.”
“The things you’ll miss are the things you’re glad you don’t have to relive,” he said, mentioning “the knots in your stomach” during the long waits before a game.
And he promised that he will return to the courts soon, although he said he still does not know in what capacity.
“I just wanted the fans to know I’m not going to be a ghost,” he said, recalling how Borg himself “didn’t come back to Wimbledon for 25 years.”
He regretted never having competed against the new world number one, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, with whom he did train a long time ago.
And he affirmed of this new generation of tennis players, “more athletic than ever”, that even if they change the style of play “I will be their number one fan”.
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