Rafael Nadal: ‘Roger Federer and I sent a message’ © Clive Brunskill / Staff – Getty Images Sport
Rafael Nadal had the honor of playing alongside Roger Federer in the Swiss’ last career game. Roger wanted to play with Rafa at the 2022 Laver Cup and the Spaniard was more than willing to accept that, although he was far from 100% physically.
Federer and Nadal wasted a match point and lost to Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock 4-6, 7-6, 11-9 after a thrilling match in two hours and 13 minutes. As Nadal explained later, the match didn’t have much importance for the result.
All that mattered was celebrating Roger’s incredible career and the fact that he was playing alongside his great rival and friend after so many years. Rafa struggled more than the other players in his games and showed clear signs of an ongoing abdominal injury.
At 4-4 in the first set, he suffered a break ball and Roger saved it to keep them on the positive side.
Rafael Nadal played alongside Roger Federer at the Laver Cup last year
Federer and Nadal broke Frances’ serve 6-4 after 42 minutes in the next game.
The Spaniard lost serve 1-1 in the second set and recovered it 3-2 after Tiafoe’s costly double fault. Rafa had to serve deep at the score of 5-5 after suffering six break points.
He and Roger contested it and instituted a tie break. Sock and Tiafoe played well and settled 7-2 for the match tiebreak. Nadal took the lead early on and secured the first three points.
The Americans fought back and took a 4-3 lead. The legends secured the result with 8:8 and won a match point on the 17th point. The Swiss failed to convert the ball on his serve and Frances scored the winner to make it 10-9.
Sock landed a forehand winner that sent his team over the top and ended Roger’s career in an emotional evening. “To be honest, the match itself wasn’t very important. The only thing that mattered was that in the end two great rivals played together.
It was the last match of one of the most influential personalities in sports history. We sent a message that you can be great rivals and have a close relationship at the same time. How we experienced the match doesn’t matter; It’s just important to note that Roger has left professional tennis.
I am sure that he will devote himself to tennis in the future. Roger will be following the Tour regularly and I’m sure we’ll see more on the pitch once he’s resolved his physical issues. We’ll play more games together; I’m sure of that,” said Rafael Nadal.
2023-09-04 22:33:00
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