This emerges from the appointment published on Thursday. The duel with the Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in the night session will be the last official match in Federer’s unique career.
“Tomorrow night. My last match. Doubles with Rafael Nadal,” Federer wrote on Twitter, adding a muscle arm and a red heart to his message. Nadal replied to his former competitor just a few minutes later: “An honor and a real pleasure.”
Federer had wanted Nadal, with whom he had fought many high-class duels over the past few years, as a doubles partner. It would be “a very special situation if it came to that,” said the 41-year-old. With 20 Grand Slam tournament wins, Federer has two fewer than record holder Nadal. Federer announced last week that he wanted to end his career after three knee surgeries after the Laver Cup.
On Thursday, Federer and Nadal were already training together on Center Court in the London Arena. The world-class duo played against Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in front of around 10,000 spectators. The quartet, which had dominated world tennis for years, delighted the fans, and Federer in particular was repeatedly celebrated with ovations.
The tournament in London from Friday to Sunday pits a European team against a selection of players from the rest of the world. The Norwegian US Open finalist Casper Ruud will start against Sock, then Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) and Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) will compete. Britain’s Andy Murray and Australia’s Alex de Minaur face off just before the doubles.
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Source: Nachrichten
