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First set: Federer/Nadal 2-1 Sock/Tiafoe* (*indicates next server)
Federer holds comfortably in his first service game, despite missing a point where he managed to hit the ball through that space between the net and the net post. Even at 41, he’s doing things we’ve never seen before.
First set: *Federer/Nadal 1-1 Sock/Tiafoe (*indicates next server)
Sock and Tiafoe move stress-free in their opening service game. Tiafoe, fresh off his inspired run to the semi-finals of the US Open, which included a career-best win over Nadal in the fourth round, punctuates it with a booming ace.
Updated at 10.22pm BST
First set: Federer/Nadal 1-0 Sock/Tiafoe* (*indicates next server)
Nadal is the first to serve and opens with a double fault. The ball was awarded but a challenge from Tiafoe overturned it. Federer then hits a forehand volley winner into the net at the start of a 15-all rally, prompting another ovation. It could be a long night at this rate. Nadal makes it 30-15 with a backhand volley into the alley before holding after a couple of errors from the Sock/Tiafoe team. A good catch for the crowd favorite after the double fault started.
Federer and Nadal have just emerged from the tunnel to a standing ovation at the packed O2 Arena. They are followed by Team Europe coach Björn Borg. Now they’ve taken the court for their warm-up, exchanging shots with the American pair of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe (who shared the court with Nadal not so long ago).
Two minutes left.
Team World’s Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe and Team Europe’s Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer pose for a photo before their doubles match. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup
Updated at 10.11pm BST
Tributes have poured in from around the world in the eight days since Federer announced his retirement. German soccer great Philipp Lahm has added to the pile with this thoughtful column in today’s Guardian.
Federer’s professional career contrasts with today. In times of professionalization, young athletes are often treated as investments, especially in high-stakes sports like tennis. From a very young age, they are sent to academies and camps, which are talent factories. Sportsmen’s biographies are increasingly created outside the federation, outside society. They are privatized.
The sports entertainment industry views talent as a resource and capital investment. As soon as you have identified the talent, it becomes a project. You take it out of the structures, do your thing. The goal of the athlete is no longer to give something back to the community, but to optimize profits and build a business.
As more and more people imitate it, many end up falling by the wayside. Talent is a rare gift. This is how sport distances itself from society. If it is no longer part of it, it loses its charm and credibility.
On Friday, the world can marvel at Federer’s genius one last time. Time to get nostalgic. Many Federer moments come to mind. I often think back to the spring of 2017, when he experienced a resurgence after many injuries. He won Indian Wells and Miami. In Australia he beat Nadal in the fifth set despite being behind.
That was the time when I finished my career. I was glad Federer went on and watched all his matches then – it was a wonderful pastime. He again proved his skill to everyone. This is how I will remember Roger Federer.
Federer and Nadal alternated between their on-court dugout with the rest of their Team Europe teammates and backstage during the Murray-De Minaur match.
Now not much more. Players should be on track for tonight’s feature attraction momentarily.
Alex de Minaur beat Andy Murray 5-7, 6-3, 7-10 in a first tie-breaker at 10. A bit slow start, but very high quality in the last half hour. Fighting back from a set down, the 23-year-old Australian delivered a desperately needed point for Team World, who didn’t want to fall into a 3-0 hole right out of the gate.
Team Europe reacts during Andy Murray’s match against Team World’s Alex de Minaur on Friday night at the O2 Arena in London. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
A quick look at the Laver Cup format and where things stand heading into tonight’s game. A three-day team event conceived as the equivalent of golf’s Ryder Cup, the competition consists of three singles matches and one doubles match daily. One point is awarded for a win on the first day, two points for a win on the second day and three points for a win on the third day.
The European side have won all four editions so far, although the title was decided in the 12th and final game on two occasions. Federer lifted the trophy in 2017 and Alexander Zverev did the same in 2019.
The Europeans already hold a 2-0 lead in this year’s event after Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas won the singles in this afternoon’s session over Jack Sock and Diego Schwartzman respectively.
Team Europe, left, and Team World are in London for the fifth edition of the Laver Cup. Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup
Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic play together in the European team for the first time. The Big Three, as they are widely known, have combined to win 63 of the last 77 Grand Slam championships (Nadal 22, Djokovic 21, Federer 20).
De Minaur has just taken the second set in his ongoing match with Murray. Under the rules, the match will be decided by a 10-point tiebreaker rather than a full third set, meaning tonight’s main event should be underway in an hour’s time .
Updated at 10.05pm BST
prelude
Hello and welcome to the O2 Arena for the final match in Roger Federer’s career history. The 41-year-old Swiss great, who has not competed since his Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Hubert Hurkacz in July 2021, announced last week that he will step away from professional tennis following a series of operations on right knee that made his longed-for return to the men’s tour unsustainable.
And so he says goodbye tonight in London at the event of the team founded by his management company alongside his long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal. The two must compete for Team Europe against the World Team doubles pair of Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock.
It’s not the first time Federer and Nadal have appeared on the same side of the court – they won a doubles match together at the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017. But they are much better known for their role in one of the great rivalries in the history of sports. They have met a total of 40 times in singles (with Nadal winning 26), including 14 times in Grand Slam tournaments (with the Spaniard winning 10), none more memorable than their historic clash in the final of Wimbledon 2008.
“I saw him play on TV before he came on tour. I saw him being successful on TV and then we were able to create an incredible rivalry,” Nadal said yesterday. “And on the other hand, one thing we’re probably very proud of is having a friendly rivalry. Tomorrow will be something special. difficult It will be difficult to manage everything, especially for Roger, no doubt. But for me too. In the end, one of the most important players, if not the most important player, of my tennis career is leaving.”
‘The most important player of my career’: Nadal on Federer’s retirement – video
Federer and Nadal will take to the court after the conclusion of the first match of the night, a singles meeting between Team Europe’s Andy Murray and Team World’s Alex de Minaur currently in the second set.
Bryan will be here shortly. Meanwhile, here’s Tumaini Carayol’s look at Federer’s swan song tonight in London.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, a group of the three greatest men’s tennis players of all time and the four defining competitors of the generation, gathered for their Laver Cup press conference on Thursday , when they all converged. for the last time as professionals.
As they reminisced about their old matches and laughed about shared memories, glorious or devastating depending on the perspective, Federer chimed in: “Sitting here, it feels good that I’m going first of the boys,” he said with a smile. “It feels good.”
In many ways, this latest chapter in Federer’s career is a bleak one. Despite his reputation for avoiding serious injury throughout his career, his later years have been ravaged by physical problems. Unlike Serena Williams’ recent intense and competitive outing, Federer can’t trust his knee to last more than a short doubles match. In his final bout alongside Team Europe teammate Nadal, he will step into the O2 Arena on Friday night against World Team Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock hoping to compete at a respectable level.
But the circumstances are right. He will be rejected by three of the toughest opponents of his life, players who with him have defined this last decade and a half of tennis, pushing him forward in many ways. Between them, they’ve won 66 Grand Slam titles, faced each other 234 times and spent 933 weeks at No. 1. For more than a decade, they set up the later stages of every major event and prevented almost everyone else from were successful
“Tomorrow will be something special,” Nadal said. “I think it’s very difficult, difficult. It’s going to be difficult to manage everything, especially for Roger, no doubt. For me too. In the end, one of the most important players, if not the most important player in my tennis career, he’s leaving, isn’t he?”