1,526 games and 103 trophies later, there was Roger Federer, ready to say goodbye. Uniformed in blue and white with Rafael Nadal, the friend and rival with whom he set the scene for more than a decade of the golden age of tennis, he entered the hard court of the O2 in London amid the applause of an audience that had lived a day of more than nine hours of previous games with a single objective: to accompany him in his last dance.
The right knee, the same one that cracked for the first time in 2016, forced the Swiss’s last start to be in the doubles modality of the Laver Cup. And between the nerves, the laughs and the hugs that they exhibited with Nadal, it was confirmed that there was no better option to fire the man who made an individual sport a collective passion than a team game.
The last Dance
“The result is the least”, consciously remarked some fans before the game between Federer-Nadal and Tiafoe-Sock. But after 24 years of triumphs, a defeat was not in the plans of the Swiss. And so, each ball of the 2 hours and 14 minutes The match lasted was played with nervousness.
433 days had passed since Federer’s last appearance, which had been in that same city, but in his temple, at Wimbledon. Nadal, for his part, came from a surprise loss to Tiafoe in the round of 16 of the recent US Open. Still, nothing mattered. It was his second match as a couple and it was the farewell of the older of the two. You had to win.
At first, the anguish took its toll. Nadal was not in the net and Federer could not gauge his backhand. Then the minutes passed and confidence came. The Spanish shone from the back of the pitch and the Swiss stunned into the net. In the stands Novak Djokovic, the last member of the triad, supported endlessly. A joint sigh ended each point.
During the first moto, the break came at the best time. In the tenth game, after having saved a break in the previous one. 6-4, the Living Legends won.
In the second set, Sock and Tiafoe broke Nadal’s first serve and put the balance in his favor. Then, in the sixth game, the Europeans equalized the charges. In the end, even though the break in their favor was close in game 12, there was no break for Nadal and Federer. In the tie-break, the Americans were unbeatable. 6-7 (2).
Already in the match tie-break, the anguish, despite all odds, intensified. Federer hit an ace and the crowd exploded. Sock grew larger than his meter ninety-one and achieved two anthology points. Nadal came to fail in the mesh and the state fell silent. Tiafoe burst the ball against the humanity of the Swiss and the boos were felt. Federer served for the match and they lost the point. Tiafoe lashed out again hard and took the Swiss’ serve. Sock, the only doubles player on court, was in charge of closing the evening. Three blows to the side of Federer and a change of sides. That was the formula to close the game.
9-11 Federer and Nadal fell.
“We’ve managed it somehow. It’s been a wonderful day, I’m not sad. Playing with Rafa on the same team… having the support of the boys. I didn’t want to feel alone when it came time to say goodbye, thank you all,” he declared through tears at the end of the game.
“I would never have expected everything. I just wanted to play tennis. It was perfect, I would do it again. My final was how I wanted it,” he added.
Until this Friday, the Swiss had won 1,251 games. This must have been 1,252, but it doesn’t matter, because the numbers stopped representing his greatness a long time ago.
That is his legacy: having transcended the sport he loved and suffered like no other.
ANDRES FELIPE BALAGUERA
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