Roger Federer’s incredible confession in a special photo with Rafael Nadal

Nearly two years after his retirement, Roger Federer reflected in depth on that week at the Laver Cup, where he said goodbye to professional tennis by playing a doubles match with Rafael Nadal. A historic postcard so much so that this June 20 can be seen again through a documentary produced by the Serbian team.

This was the pretext for a long interview, during which Federer, winner of 20 Grand Slam titles, spoke openly about his retirement, his current life and his relationship with Nadal, who, in addition to being the great rival of his career, became an extremely close person.

In fact, in the middle of a conversation with the newspaper El País, Rog even confessed to having kept a copy of the iconic photograph in which they walk hand in hand crying during the last tribute to the match they played in the Wash Cup.

“I have it at home, framed, in a space where I have some images from my career. I don’t want photos everywhere, so I have them in a specific area. AND When I walk past it always catches my eye because it reflects our camaraderie, our friendship and also our rivalry. all in one image,” admitted the 41-year-old former tennis player.

There he also explained why he decided to shake the Spaniard’s hand. “It’s a moment where we can both reflect on everything we’ve just experienced, remember our careers and how lucky we were to be tennis players, to have been able to turn our hobby into a dream job. That’s what this photo means to me. It was a great, short moment, holding his hand for a second and showing my gratitude through that touch. e,” he added.

In this part of the conversation, Federer also surprisingly said that at the time he felt complicated by the possibility of the Spaniard being the first of the Big Three to announce his retirement. “I was afraid that Nadal would give up before me. There were signs that made us feel that Rafa was not doing well and that he was not going to last that long. I didn’t think I could play past 37 or 38, and it’s the same for him, but then you get to a place where you start to feel better. But if, I was afraid that Rafa would leave and, in fact, I thought he might after beating Medvedev, in the final of the Australian Open in 2022. I thought maybe he would do it there or at Roland Garros. I would have been incredibly happy for him, but at the same time it would have been a shock to me. “, he stressed.

A special relationship, if we think that it was Nadal who deprived him on several occasions of some of the most important tournaments in the world. A confrontation that he also had with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but which ultimately ended up uniting them more than separating them. Of course, this also explains that there are other reasons. “I think what really connects us all, including Andy, is the fact that we were parents ; Beyond all the matches we have played and the rivalry, in that sense we have a lot in common and topics to discuss. Novak has two children, Andy has four and Rafa was about to have his first at the time. It was beautiful to be able to experience all this as a family,” he said.

Finally, he reflected on his retirement and how he views it after two years of absence from the professional circuit. “There is an incredible feeling, as if you are witnessing some sort of funeral of your own life. It’s a very strange feeling, to be honest. You are completely alert and feel a great slow-motion blur of everything that is happening. It’s like an operation: you only know what you feel once you’ve experienced it. “I never thought the ending would be so full of experiences,” Federer said.