(London) As hoped, even dreamed, Roger Federer will play the last match of his career on Friday with Rafael Nadal, not as an opponent, but as a doubles teammate on the first day of the Laver Cup in London.

“Participating in this historic moment will be something incredible and unforgettable,” admitted Nadal.

Because for the 41-year-old Swiss, winner of 20 Grand Slam titles, this will be the last match of one of the most prestigious careers in all sports.

The two great rivals of the last fifteen years will be side by side to represent the European team against the American pair composed of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe who will represent the World team.

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“I’m super excited and I hope we have a good time and win the game, we’ll see. I hope that the public will support us enormously, ”slipped the Mallorcan, who let the emotion that already inhabits him shine through before the farewell to his rival.

“It will be a different kind of pressure, after all the great things we’ve shared on and off the pitch,” he admitted.

Federer and Nadal wrote in 40 clashes (24 wins to 16 for the Spaniard), some of them legendary, the most exciting soap opera in the history of tennis.

“He is one of the most important players, if not the player, of my career and I am very grateful to be able to play with him”, insisted Nadal who is, at 36, holder of the record 22 Grand Slam titles after his victories this year at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros.

“A Last Double”

But Federer, whose right knee injury has become insurmountable, announced last week that he would end his career at the end of the Laver Cup, an exhibition which he initiated and which opposes a team Europe, under the captaincy of Björn Borg, to a World team, under the captaincy of John McEnroe.

“I am preparing for a last double”, he announced on Wednesday, while the name of his partner was not yet formalized.

Having not played since his defeat in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2021, where the Pole Hubert Hurkacz had inflicted a terrible 6-0 on him in the third and last round of the meeting, to try to treat his knee, Federer admitted missing of serenity as this final match approaches.

“I’m obviously nervous not having played for so long, I hope to be competitive,” he admitted on Wednesday.

Expected, but dreaded, the announcement of the Master’s retirement marks the beginning of the end of a blessed era in tennis and sport in general.

Because since his first Grand Slam title, at Wimbledon in 2003, Federer has marked tennis with his talent and elegance, but he has also brought in his wake the phenomena Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Between them, they have won 63 of the last 77 Majors.

The oldest, Federer is the first to bow out. Nadal’s career hangs by a thread: that of the more or less bearable pain that emanates from his left foot. Djokovic, he, at 35, does not seem on the way to the exit. But his refusal of the anti-covid vaccine caused him to mark time in the race for Grand Slam titles: he was prevented this year from participating in the Australian Open, where he holds the record of nine titles, and the United States Open. United where he won three times. He won at Wimbledon his 21e Major, but not sure if he can return to Melbourne in January.

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