Roger Federer caught telling emotional message to children

Roger Federer: The fans are the centre of everything

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Roger Federer was caught imparting an emotional message to his children after playing the final match of his professional career on Friday night. The Swiss ace teamed up with long-time rival Rafael Nadal for a Laver Cup doubles match as the duo were ultimately beaten by Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

The match proved to be a spectacular affair as Federer and Nadal – affectionately nicknamed ‘Fedal’ – won the opening set 6-4, before losing the second one on a tiebreak. The third set was played as an extended tiebreak, with the tennis heroes having a match point at 9-8 up. But Sock and Tiafoe eventually won it 11-9.

Federer was cheered throughout the encounter as 17,500 tennis fans from across the world packed into the O2 Arena in London to see the 20-time Grand Slam champion in action for the final time. And following the match, the 41-year-old broke down in tears as the significance of the occasion dawned on him.

At one point the cameras panned in on him as he embraced his wife and children. “I’m so happy,” he told his children while the tears rolled. “I’m not sad, okay.” The veteran then wiped a tear away from his eye before hugging his mother as Ellie Goulding sang in the background.

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Federer will go down as one of the greatest tennis players to ever play the game and dominated the sport for nearly a decade after winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003. He went on to win 16 Grand Slams in 27 tournaments between 2003 and 2010, before getting his hands on another four major trophies later on in his career to end on 20.

Federer did have the most Grand Slam titles of any player at one stage of his career but has since been overtaken by Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who are both also representing Team Europe at the Laver Cup this weekend. Nadal however has been replaced by Cam Norrie with Matteo Berrettini stepping in for Federer after Friday’s doubles.

And following Friday’s showdown, Federer remained upbeat. “I was able to remind myself always on the court again how wonderful this is,” the legendary player said. “This is not the end-end – life goes on. I’m healthy, I’m happy, everything’s great – and this is just a moment in time.

“The last two days have been tough to say the least. Thankfully in moments I totally forgot about it, slept great. Everything was wonderful – I could enjoy it I feel. And because of that I think I will be able to have a better recollection of how it went.”

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