Roger Federer waves at fans at the end of his last match after announcing his retirement. Reuters/Andrew Boyers. Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal vs Frances Tiafoe/Jack Sock, Live Tennis Score Streaming and Updates: 20-time grand slam winner, Roger Federer will play the last match of his professional Tennis career, teaming with rival and friend Rafael Nadal in a doubles fixture in the Laver Cup. Standing across the court from the two stars will be two upcoming ones in Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.
Federer had announced his retirement last week via social media. The 41-year-old had said in a press conference ahead of Laver Cup that ‘playing doubles with Rafa (as his last match) would be an absolute dream’.
Follow live updates from Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal vs Frances Tiafoe/Jack Sock below.
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(From left), Britain's Andy Murray, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, Switzerland's Roger Federer and Spain's Rafael Nadal attend a training session ahead of the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 in London. (AP | PTI)
An emotional and memorable farewell. Everyone, including Nadal, with tears in their eyes. The occasion felt right to pay tribute to the game's greatest.
"It's been a wonderful day. I'm happy not sad," he said. "Feels great to be here, and I enjoyed doing everything one last time. Funny enough, with all the matches, fans, family, friends, I didn't feel much stress. Happy I made it through the match. I couldn't be happier."
In a lovely gesture, Federer takes in the applause alongside his Team Europe teammates, and his greatest rivals.
Waterworks.
From match point up, Federer and Nadal lose 6-4, 6-7, (11-9) in a thrilling contest.
Undoubtedly emotional here as the tears start coming.
Federer, very clearly emotional, served for the final match of his career. Missed his first, and got beaten by a solid Tiafoe volley. 9-9.
Forehand volley to perfection to bring it back to 7-7. "Another mini-masterpiece from him," the commentator says. Perhaps his last.
6-6 in the match tiebreaker. Exactly level.
A Roger Federer ace has just been greeted with the biggest cheer of the night. And that is saying something. Sense of occasion heightened, if that was needed.
Talk about clutch play. Sock picks up a huge volley mid-court. That was Federer-esque.
Nadal and Federer turn it up, especially the Spaniard from the baseline, to take it back to 4-4.
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Nerves setting in. Couple of unforced errors see Tiafoe/Sock back in it at the first changeover.
Federer and Nadal turning back the clock. The noise at the O2 is deafening. They are 3-0 up in the match tiebreaker.
Tiafoe/Sock get the job done 7-2. Up next: 10-point shoutout for the win. Federer fans get a final glimpse of the great.
Nerves setting in for both teams here. Tiafoe/Sock go into the changeover with a lead as the more experienced doubles play is coming through.
Testing service hold from Sock, which needed a lucky net cord from Tiafoe. 6-6 in the second.
Nadal has not been comfortable on serve all night, and he fell down 0-40 once again.
Needed a huge effort to come back - big serves and forehands, and a huge overhead from Federer - but he keeps it on serve in the second. Sock to serve to take it into a tiebreaker.
At 30-30, the match seemed done. An unforced error from Nadal and solid overhead from Sock later, we are back on serve. 5-5 in the second.
May have been Federer's final service game, but he did well on it. Deuce game, but got a couple of cheap points on his first serve.
Federer/Nadal lead 5-4 in the second. One game away.
The highlight of the evening may be the Federer-Nadal pairing, but they have a good source of inspiration here.
It's been on for a while, but Federer and Nadal have turned it up a notch now, both their forehands are firing. Break Tiafoe's serve, shortly after a disputed double hit from the American. Level at 3-3 in the second.
Brilliant point from both Nadal and Federer, strong serve and volley from Federer followed by incredible acrobatics from Nadal whose approach shot from behind his body nearly made it, and would have undoubtedly blown the roof off the O2. Tiafoe/Sock lead 3-2 in the second.
Offered without comment...