The O2 Arena has long since emptied and the privileged 17,500 who attended Roger Federer's last official game are slowly recovering from their emotions.
The main interested party too.
United on the court, united in tears on the bench in what will go down as one of the strongest images of the evening, Federer and Nadal show up together in the middle of the night in the boardroom.
“It was huge to be part of a moment in the history of our sport, slips Nadal.
When Roger leaves the Tour, it's also an important part of my life that goes away..." The Swiss could hardly have dreamed of a better start...
What emotions are going through you after this evening?
ROGER FEDERER.
I didn't want to think about it too much.
I wanted to try to have fun and play a decent game.
I had a lot of hope that it would go well but also the fear of not being up to the others.
From the first game, I saw that I could play with them and it calmed my nerves.
After the match
(Editor's note: won by Team World of Tiafoe and Sock),
it was much better than I imagined.
I was able to experience all my emotions.
I did not find myself alone in my corner, in a hotel room.
Not everyone is so lucky.
It was really beautiful.
The strongest image of the evening!
Unbelievable.
pic.twitter.com/Nq75YzUozN
— Tennis Legend (@TennisLegende) September 23, 2022
How did you feel before this one?
I went through different phases.
Sometimes I was as nervous as before a grand final and at other times I wanted to joke with the guys, to have good conversations.
The last two days have been difficult.
There was a lot of stress because I wanted everything to be perfect.
I had fireworks going off in my head, flashes of my career, of everything I was going to miss… A few weeks ago, I was so scared of this moment!
But it's not the end, life goes on, I'm healthy, happy.
You were alongside Rafael Nadal.
How has your relationship evolved?
I don't know if it's getting older, having children, but our rivalry has changed over the past ten years.
Having Rafa's family this weekend is important, I can feel them behind me.
And the same for him.
(Turning to Nadal)
I don't know how many children you're going to have
(Editor's note: his wife is expecting the first in October)
but I will give advice, it is not easy!
We have a lot to look back on and a lot to do and time to spend together.
If there's one thing you watch today, make it this.#LaverCup |
@rogerfederer pic.twitter.com/Ks9JqEeR6B
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 23, 2022
When and where will we see you again on a court
(Editor's note: for an exhibition)
?
I don't have any travel plans yet, it's part of the family discussions.
The only message I want to leave to the fans is that they will see me one day, I don't know where and when but I want to go to places where I have never played to say thank you.
What will happen after you?
Tennis is a great sport, I feel like its ambassador.
There are a lot of beautiful values, we saw it with Rafa, the respect we have for each other… It's quite extreme that you can end your career with your main rival, it's weird I find
(smile)
.
It touches me a lot that there was Novak (Djokovic), Andy (Murray)…