‘It’s Exactly What I Hoped For’: Roger Federer’s Touching Farewell Speech At Laver Cup

Roger Federer bid his last goodbye to tennis on Friday night at the Laver Cup. Playing alongside Rafael Nadal, he didn’t win his career’s final match but the night was everything that he had hoped for. Everyone was in tears – Federer, Nadal, Federer’s family and fans…everyone.

His farewell speech was a tearful one where he kept on breaking into sobs. It was a historic moment and hence, here’s a look at all that he said during his speech.

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“We’ll get through this somehow, will we, right?! Look, it’s been a wonderful day. I told the guys I’m happy, I’m not sad. It feels great to be here. I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time – and everything was the last time. Funny enough with all the matches and having the guys being here, fans, family, friends, I didn’t feel the stress so much even though I did think something was going to go – pop a calf or block a back or something in the match. I’m so happy I made it through. The match was great and I couldn’t be happier.”

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“It’s been wonderful. And of course playing with Rafa, on the same team, having all the guys here and all the legends, Rocket [Rod Laver], Stefan Edberg – thank you. It is amazing, it really is [to share the court with Rafa and the others]. I didn’t want it to feel lonely out there. It felt lonely for a second when they told me to come out one more time, it didn’t feel great. But to say goodbye in a team, I always felt I was a team player at heart. Singles don’t really do that a whole lot but I’ve had a team that travelled with me around the world. It’s been amazing with them. Thanks to everybody who made it work for so many years. Of course being on a team with Andy [Murray], Thomas [Enqvist], Novak [Djokovic], Matteo [Berrettini], Cam [Norrie], Stefanos [Tsitsipas], Rafa and Casper [Ruud] – and also the other team – you guys are unbelievable.”

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“It’s been a pleasure playing all these Laver Cups and it does feel like a celebration to me. I wanted it to feel like this at the end and it’s exactly what I hoped for, so thank you. Everybody is here tonight from my family, so it’s great. I’ve had so much fun over the last 13 years ever since everybody’s here, the girls, the boys. My wife has been so supportive and she could’ve stopped me a long, long time ago but she didn’t. She kept me going so it’s amazing. Thank you!”

Here’s a look at the video of the emotional moment:

This is going to be a very difficult farewell.

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