Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal provide multiple highlight moments in doubles for Laver Cup

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won in the Super Tiebreak for Team Europe in the Laver Cup. (Source: Reuters)

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have individually provided numerous highlight moments through their iconic careers. And they have provided fair bit of gorgeous play when they’ve been up against each other as well – take their iconic 2008 Wimbledon final for example or most recently the Australian Open in January which went back and forth before the Swiss triumphed. But they’ve never been on the same side of the net due to the tough nature of the tour which prevents players from competing in singles and doubles both. And that changed on Saturday in the Laver Cup.

With 35 Grand Slam titles between them, Federer and Nadal teamed up to represent Team Europe against Team World comprising Jack Sock and Sam Querrey. For 81 minutes, the world of tennis stopped and stared, analysed and gawked as Federer and Nadal played on the same side of the court, shared tactics and had plenty of fist bumps to pass around. In the end, the duo won 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 to extend Europe’s lead after Day 2 to 9-3. Day 3 of the Laver Cup will see matches be worth 3 points each which gives Team World a slender chance of making a comeback. The team first to 13 points will win the inaugural competition.

Even though the tournament is not part of the ATP Tour and doesn’t accrue points, it has attracted some of the best players in the world of tennis. Other members of Team Europe are world number four Alexander Zverev, seventh-ranked Dominic Thiem, Croatia’s Marin Cilic, and Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych. On the other side, Team World includes Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov, John Isner and Frances Tiafoe.

Later Federer stated teaming up with Nadal was special even though they will forever be rivals going forward. “We will always forever be rivals as long as we are active. And after this we will be rivals again,” said Federer. “But this was something very special. Knowing you can trust him in the big moments, seeing his decision-making, seeing his thought process, it was very interesting. It was definitely a different day to other days in my life,” he added.