Federer bows out of tennis with doubles defeat alongside Nadal at Laver Cup

It wasn't the way Roger Federer expected, neither did the thousands who had flocked to the O2 Arena in London on Friday night, nor the millions who stayed glued to their television sets to catch the legend one last time on court. But a tearful Federer bit adieu to the sport, drawing curtains on his illustrious career with a defeat in a doubles tie at the Laver Cup 2022 alongside Rafael Nadal. The 20-time Grand Slam champion, 41, and Nadal, playing for Team Europe, went down 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 9-11 against Team World's Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock.

"It's been a wonderful day. I'm happy, not sad," he said. "Feels great to be here, and I enjoyed doing everything one last time. Funny enough, with all the matches, fans, family, friends, I didn't feel much stress. Happy I made it through the match. I couldn't be happier."

This was Federer's first on-court appearance in about 14 months, having last played at Wimbledon 2021 before being sidelined with his prolonged struggle with knee injury. Yet, Federer looked at his vintage best in the match. He was quick around the nets and looked impressive with his groundstrokes. However, the Swiss maestro failed o register his 1382nd win of his career, comprising singles and doubles.

The two "greatest rivals and friends" comfortably won the opening set before Tiafoe and Sock broke them early in the second set. Federer and Nadal broke back immediately, pushing the set to the tie-breaker where the pair conceded the lead as Sock and Tiafoe held their nerve. Federer and Nadal then nudged ahead in the match tie-breaker going 3-0 up in quick time before reaching match point. But the Team World pair had other plans as they crashed Federer's swansong with an incredible win.