“I don’t know if I’ll be able to manage all this,” admitted the 41-year-old Swiss at a news conference on Thursday, when asked if he feared emotion taking over at different key moments of this unique day.
“In the past I had very hard moments, sometimes I was horribly nervous, before matches over the course of all these years,” he added.
With 157 career finals, 31 of them at Grand Slams (20 titles), you’d think Federer had enough experience not to get tense.
But the fact that that stage fright never went away also explains the longevity and success of his career. “I could really come in every time and say ‘I hope to win this tournament’ for, I don’t know, 15 years or more. That’s been a privilege,” she acknowledged,
Waiting for this last meeting, Federer will relive for the last time all those pre-match routines that he loved and hated at the same time.
“I love tying my shoes, getting ready, putting the headband on (around my head), looking in the mirror (asking) ‘Is everything ok? Am I ready for this? Ok, let’s go.’ not have to do it again,” explained the Swiss.
He also recalled “butterflies in my stomach, waiting for a whole day, having breakfast telling myself I had another big game tonight and, oh, there were 15 hours to wait. It’s okay, but it’s stressful and the days are endless.” .
One of them will surely be this Friday. It will enter the fray in the night session that will start around 9:10 p.m. GMT, after in a long game, the Australian Alex de Miñaur beat the British Andy Murray (5-7, 6-3, 10-7) to set the score. at 2-1 for Europe.
In the day session, Europe, which won the previous five editions of this tournament, was placed 2-0 after the triumphs of the Norwegian Casper Ruud (N.2 in the world) against the American Jack Sock (N.128) by 6-4 , 5-7 and 10-7, and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (N.6) against the Argentine Diego Schwartzman (N.17) by 6-2 and 6-1.
However, despite the performance of the tennis players, the momentary champion on Friday afternoon is still Federer, the most applauded by the London public during the presentation of the teams.
His last match promises to be memorable, in doubles, alongside his “best friend”, Rafael Nadal.
“Tomorrow will be very special,” the Spaniard also admitted. “One of the most important players, if not the most important player in my career, is leaving. In the end, living through that moment will be difficult, but it is clearly very exciting and I am very grateful to him,” he added.
Their rivals, the Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe, who will represent the ‘World’ team, despite being aware of the honor of playing this unique match, have not lost their spirit of competition either.
“Whatever happens, these guys will not be the bad guys in the movie,” their captain John McEnroe defended them.
“What counts is to celebrate everything Roger has done in his career. Who wins or who loses is totally secondary,” he added.
After the match point, the result will be quickly erased with something stronger in which the human, sport and history will be mixed and sadness will not eliminate everything.
“We would like to play forever. I love being on the court, I love playing against these guys, I love to travel. It has never been difficult for me, whether I win or learn from losing, everything has been perfect, I have loved my career”, summed up the Helvetian.
“Everyone has to leave the competition at some point. It has really been an adventure, tremendous. And for that, I am extremely grateful,” he concluded.
Source: Ambito
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