Rafael Nadal: With Federer, an important part of my life is leaving too

With Roger Federer, an "important part of my life is leaving too," said Rafael Nadal after playing alongside the Swiss legend in his career's final ATP game on Friday.

To mark the end of his career that lasted for over two decades, Federer played a doubles match with Nadal in the Laver Cup in London. The result, which did not end in the legendary pair's favour, did not matter at all as the occasion was the bigger factor.

When the match and, with it, Federer's time in professional tennis ended as well. He hugged Nadal, then their opponents Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock of Team World. And then Federer began crying.

There were plenty of tears around, with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic, and Taylor Fritz among others seen wiping away their tears, the player who stood out was Nadal, who cried inconsolably, along with Federer. The picture of the two arch-rivals sitting on the bench, holding hands, and crying has gone rival.

Federer and Nadal have given the sports fraternity some emotional scenes to remember for life.

"When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving, too," the 36-year-old Nadal said, who used the words "sad" and "unforgettable" to describe the occasion.

"I was shaking a little bit. Has been a difficult day to handle every single thing and in the end, everything became super emotional. For me, it has been a huge honour to be a part of this amazing moment in the history of our sport and at the same time a lot of years sharing a lot of things together. On court, we have completely opposite styles and that's what probably makes our matches and our rivalry probably one of the biggest and most interesting," said Nadal after the match at O2 Arena in London.

The Spaniard went on to add that in he and Federer have a similar approach in their respective personal lives and that's why they trust each other so much.

"But in the family life, personal life, probably we approach life not in a very different way, no? So that's why we can trust each other, we can speak very often and we're able to speak very feeling free, feeling confident. Having somebody like Roger that I feel confident to talk about any personal thing, it's something that is very beautiful after all the things that we shared together and all the important things that we fought for such a long time," said Nadal.

Roger Federer: Told the guys that I'm not sad, I'm happy

Meanwhile, the 41-year-old Federer said his journey as a professional tennis player was "perfect"" and he "would do it all over again."

After Federer was congratulated by all the players of Team Europe and Team World, he met his wife, Mirka, their four children (twin girls and twin boys) – Leo, Lenny, Myla and Charlene, and parents Lynette and Robert—for embraces and, yes, more crying. Members of both teams joined together to carry Federer up in the air.

"It's been a wonderful day. I told the guys I'm happy; I'm not sad. I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time. Everything was the last time."

Federer was emotional during his on-court interview, where he paid tribute to his wife Mirka. "She could have stopped me a long, long time ago but she didn't. She kept me going and allowed me to play, so it's amazing - thank you," the former World No. 1 said.

Federer also acknowledged the crucial role his mother played in his career. "I find it always funny - we always blame my Mum for everything because, without her, I would not be here, of course. So, thanks to my parents, you have been amazing," added Federer.

Last week, Federer announced his retirement and confirmed that Laver Cup would be his final tournament as an active player. The 20-time Grand Slam champion had a succession of operations during the last two and a half years on his right knee that eventually proved unsuccessful.

It meant Federer's last singles appearance was his quarter-final defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon 2021.

Federer finished his competitive tennis career with 20 Grand Slam singles titles. His trophy cabinet includes six Australian Open titles, one French Open trophy, a record eight Wimbledon trophies and five consecutive US Open titles (2004-2008). His ATP career has ended with 1,251 wins, which is the second-most after Jimmy Connors (1,274). Federer also won 103 tour-level trophies, only behind Connors (109).