Roger Federer in floods of tears, Rafael Nadal sobs and an Ellie Goulding serenade – an emotional and unforgettable farewell to the tennis icon in London

It was a night no one inside London’s O2 Arena will ever forget as Roger Federer bid an emotional farewell to tennis.

There were tears, lots of them, from the great man himself, his family watching on from the sidelines, the thousands of fans, and even long-time rival Rafael Nadal was a wreck.

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Federer and Nadal joined forces to form an all-star doubles pairing on Friday evening at the Laver Cup – with 42 Grand Slam singles titles between them, it’s not a bad team to have.

The 41-year-old announced earlier this week that this would be his final match, but no one was quite prepared for the evening they were about to witness.

Those Laver Cup evening session tickets were the hottest in town, and it was hard to ignore the burning eyes of jealousy from the fans making their way out of the O2 following the afternoon session.

For this was what all tennis fans wanted to see – Roger in action for one last time. One last chance to see the majestic backhand flourishes, effortless gliding across the court, and delicate touch.

People had travelled from all over the globe to be in north Greenwich, with one lady desperately holding a sign saying she had flown all the way from Mexico only to be scammed out of a ticket.

But for those who did make it inside the arena were treated to a starter of Andy Murray in singles action before ‘Fedal’ took to the court.

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As we’ve come to expect from the three-time Grand Slam winner in recent years, it was an epic.

For more than two hours Murray battled Team World’s Alex de Minaur, with some quite spectacular tennis, before losing in a second set tie break.

The result did not matter one bit, because then it was time for Federer and Nadal, with Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe the pantomime villains for the night.

The first ball was not struck until 10.11pm, so everyone knew they were in for the long haul. But no one was thinking about those last trains home just yet.

There was a thunderous atmosphere inside the arena, with an early lightning quick volley from Federer bringing rapturous applause.

We had recently seen Serena Williams say an emotional farewell at the US Open, however this was a retirement like no other. 

His old sparring partner Nadal was by his side giving him fist bumps and whipping up the crowd. Novak Djokovic was on hand to offer words of wisdom at the change overs, while Murray limped around like a 70-year-old who had just completed a half marathon.

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Those images of the four of them together is a mark of just how great Federer is, or rather was. A fabulous competitor off the court, but an even better person off it. For all his greatness, he was loved in equal measure by his fellow players and fans alike.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner could be seen wiping away tears as the match entered its final stages, with Sock and Tiafoe not there to just make up the numbers.

The two Americans ended up winning the match tiebreak, but the result seemed to hardly matter.

It was well past midnight, but the fans stayed to pay tribute to the great man. Chants of ‘Roger, Roger, Roger’ echoed around the arena as he soaked in the adulation one last time.

Jim Courier was on hand to give him a microphone and ask him a few questions. That’s when the tears really started to flow.

“We’ll get through this somehow,” Federer said “Look, it has been a wonderful day. I told the guys I’m happy, I’m not sad. It feels great to be here and I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time.

“Everything was the last time. Funny enough with all the matches, being with the guys and having family and friends, I didn’t feel the stress so much even if I felt something would go during the match. I am so glad I made it through and the match was great. I couldn’t be happier.

“Of course playing with Rafa on the same team, having all the guys here, the legends, Rocket (Rod Laver), Stefan Edberg, thank you.

“It does feel like a celebration to me. I wanted to feel like this at the end and it is exactly what I hoped for so thank you.

“It has been a perfect journey and I would do it all over again…”

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Federer had to fight back the tears before he thanked wife Mirka.

He added: “Thank you everybody. I’ve had so many people cheer me on and you guys here tonight mean the world.

“My wife has been so supportive… she could have stopped me a long, long time ago but she didn’t. She kept me going and allowed me to play so thank you. She is amazing.”

What seemed like an opportune moment to bring a curtain down on the evening, resulted in Ellie Goulding being brought out to serenade Federer.

No one was quite sure how to react, but the 41-year-old was in pieces sitting beside Nadal who could barely hold it together.

For all the great moments over the years, there is not much else to say other than thank you, Roger.

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