Roger Federer tears up in front of capacity crowd

• Roger Federer’s tears up in front of capacity crowd.
• He finished his final match at 25 minutes after midnight.
• He left the court just before 1am in a sea of love, tears, and music.

Roger Federer ended his great career in an emotional Friday night session at London’s O2 Arena. He finished his final match at 25 minutes after midnight and left the court just before 1am in a sea of love, tears, and music in front of a packed house.

In his final encounter, Federer came agonizingly close to achieving the fairytale ending of triumph, but he and his great friend and adversary Rafael Nadal were unable to convert a match point before falling to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in a tight doubles battle, 4-6, 7-6(2), 11-9.

Laver Cup 2022 is now set at 2-2 at the end of the first day, leaving plenty of room for drama throughout the weekend. However, the focus of Friday’s news was Federer and the closing act of a career that has made him one of the best athletes in all of sports history, not just tennis.

Just after 10 o’clock, following a two-and-a-half-hour singles match between Andy Murray and Alex de Minaur, he entered the arena to a standing ovation. To further underscore the significance of the event, Tiafoe shook hands with Federer after the coin toss. The match finished two and a half hours later when Sock surprised Nadal with a forehand up the alley, but from that point on, the American duo took a backseat as Federer stole the spotlight.

Although he stated, “It’s been a beautiful day – I’m delighted, not unhappy,” he labored through a teary on-court interview with Jim Courier. Knowing that everything I did would be for the last time, I savored tying my shoes one last time. I was afraid that something would go wrong, like my calf giving out or my back locking, but I made it.

Ellie Goulding, a pop artist, sang “Still falling for you” and “Fire and ice” as Federer was serenaded into retirement with the 17,000-seat venue full and the clock ticking past midnight.

The actual game was the ideal send-off for Federer. Although a victory would have been the cherry on top, everything was in place for him to leave with a few of the brilliant moments for which he has been renowned and loved—enough for everyone to realize that his time is truly up.

His game remained in place. His positioning was perfect, his groundstrokes were in fantastic shape (even though a couple forehands landed way beyond their intended target), and his reflexes allowed him to play some precise volleys. He consistently served beyond 120 mph.

His movement was the only thing that was lacking. He struggled to track down short volleys and wide balls, didn’t serve and volley once, and rarely intercepted balls at the net. That left Nadal with the most of the effort, and it was entirely due to Nadal’s desire to run for everything—and who knows how fit Nadal truly is?—that the storied duo reached match point. Even for such a master shotmaker as Federer, singles is now obviously a step too far with a chronic knee ailment.

He was able to conceal his limited mobility because to his superb technique, excellent hands, and tennis intellect, and it almost worked. He and Nadal came within two points of winning three times: at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set, at 8-8 in the match tiebreak, and again at 9-8. However, Federer missed a reflex forehand, lost his next service point, and Sock eventually won the match after two hours and fourteen minutes of riveting action.

The match even included a new segment for Federer’s showcase. He proceeded down the line for a forehand in the third game and managed to thread it through the minuscule space between the net post and the net. Few would be concerned that Team World won the point when the ball brushed the net and went under the tape because, up until the very end, Federer had demonstrated his capacity to leave an audience gaping in awe.

Following the game, there was an open Federer-Fest for 30 minutes. He received two congratulations from each team, battled through his interview with Courier through tears, and paid tribute to his family, especially his wife Mirka, who he claimed “let me to play when she could have so simply urged me to quit.” Federer hugged Mirka, his four children, and his parents while Goulding sang “Fire and ice,” then completed a lap of honor around the nearly full stadium as the clock approached one in the morning.

He thanked the crowd, saying, “It does feel like a party; it’s what I wanted it to be. I’d go on the exact same journey again since it was so wonderful. The majority of tennis enthusiasts would give anything to watch it all again.

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