'Nervous' Roger Federer's farewell will be in doubles, likely with Nadal

Roger Federer on Wednesday (September 21) said he is feeling “nervous” as he prepares to bid adieu to tennis with one last doubles match, most likely with Rafael Nadal, at Laver Cup in London.

Addressing a news conference, 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer discussed his retirement.

Federer said he is now at peace with the decision to walk away and he wants this farewell to be a celebration. “I really dont want it to be a funeral. I want it to be really happy and powerful and party mode.”

Also read: Roger Federer’s full statement on his retirement

“I’m nervous going in, because I haven’t played in so long. I hope I can be somewhat competitive,” the Swiss great added.

Federer, who announced last week via social media that he would be retiring after the Laver Cup, said it took him a bit to get used to the idea of stepping away from competition.

But it was something he understood he needed to do after running into setbacks in July during his rehabilitation from what was his third surgery on his right knee in about 1 1/2 years.

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“You try to go to the next level in training, and I could feel it was getting difficult… Then, I guess, I was also getting more tired, because you have to put more effort into it to be able to sort of believe that it was going to turn around. You start getting too pessimistic. Then I also got a scan back, which wasnt what I wanted it to be,” Federer explained.

“You always want to play forever… [but] I know everybody has to leave the game.”@rogerfederer explains the ‘bittersweet’ emotions of retirement.#LaverCup pic.twitter.com/5HSpnU0VcW

— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 21, 2022

“At some point, you sit down and go, OK, we are at an intersection here, at a crossroad, and you have to take a turn. Which way is it? I was not willing to go into the direction of: Lets risk it all. Im not ready for that. I always said that was never my goal,” he added.

He will play doubles for Team Europe against Team World on Day 1 of the event, then will give way to 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini for singles over the weekend.

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That plan was run by the ATP and both team captains, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, Federer said.

As for his doubles partner for the last hurrah? Federer would not say definitively, he said thats up to Borg but the not-so-hidden secret is that it is expected to be Nadal, who holds the men’s record of 22 major championships.

(With Agency inputs)