Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature First set: *Federer/Nadal 2-2 Sock/Tiafoe (denotes next server) A quick hold for Sock and all four players have made their opening service games. First set: Federer/Nadal 2-1 Sock/Tiafoe (*denotes next server) Federer holds comfortably on his opening serve, despite missing a point where he managed to hit the ball through that gap between the net and the net. Even at 41, he’s doing things we’ve never seen before. First set: *Federer/Nadal 1-1 Sock/Tiafoe (denotes next server) Sock and Tiafoe cruise effortlessly through their opening serve. Tiafoe, fresh from an inspired run to the US Open semi-finals, which included a career-best win over Nadal in the fourth round, punctuates it with a rising ace. Updated at 22.22 BST First set: Federer/Nadal 1-0 Sock/Tiafoe (*denotes next server) Nadal serves first and opens with a double fault. The ball was called, but a Tiafoe challenge overturned it. Federer then hits a forehand volley winner into the net early in a 15-all rally, prompting another round of applause. It could be a long night at this rate. Nadal makes it 30-15 with a backhand volley down the alley before holding after a couple of errors from the Sock/Tiafoe team. A neat hold for the crowd favorites after the double fault to start. Federer and Nadal just emerged from the tunnel to a prolonged standing ovation in a packed O2 Arena. They are followed by Team Europe coach Björn Borg. They have now taken to the court for their warm-up, exchanging shots with the American pair of Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe (who shared a court with Nadal not 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 ahead of their doubles match. Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for the Laver Cup Updated 22.11 BST Tributes have poured in from around the world in the eight days since Federer announced his retirement. German soccer great Philipp Lahm added to the pile with this thoughtful column in today’s Guardian. Federer’s career forms a stark contrast to the present. In professional times, young athletes are often treated like investments – especially in sports where there is a lot to be won, like tennis. At an early age they are sent to academies and camps, which are talent factories. Athletes’ biographies are increasingly created outside the federation, outside society. They are privatized. The sports entertainment industry views talent as a resource and capital investment. Once he has identified the talent, it becomes a project. You get it out of the structures, make your own. The goal of the athlete is no longer to give something back to the community, but to optimize profit and create a business. As more and more people imitate this, many end up falling by the wayside. Talent is a rare gift. This is how sport is distanced from society. If it is no longer part of it, it loses its charm and credibility. On Friday, the world can admire Federer’s genius one last time. It’s 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. It was the time when I ended my career. I was happy that Federer went on and watched all his matches then – it was a great hobby. He again proved his ability to everyone. This is how I will remember Roger Federer. Federer and Nadal alternated between playing courtside with the rest of their Team Europe teammates and backstage during the Murray-De Minaur match. Not much more now. Players should be on the pitch for tonight’s draw. Alex de Minaur beat Andy Murray 5-7, 6-3, 7-10 in a first-to-10 tiebreak. A bit of a slow start, but showed very high quality in the last half hour. Fighting back from the set, 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. Photo: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters A quick update on the Laver Cup format and where things stand ahead of tonight’s drink. A three-day team event designed as the equivalent of golf’s Ryder Cup, the competition consists of three singles and one doubles match each day. One point is awarded per win on day one, two points per win on day two and three points per win on day three. Team Europe has won all four editions so far, although the title was decided in the 12th and final race on two occasions. Federer won the trophy in 2017 and Alexander Zverev did the same in 2019. The Europeans already have a 2-0 lead in this year’s event after Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed singles wins in this afternoon’s session over Jack Sock and Diego Schwartzman, respectively. Team Europe, left, and Team World meet in London for the fifth edition of the Laver Cup. Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images for the Laver Cup Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic are all playing together in the European team for the first time. The Big Three, as they are popularly 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 regulations, the match will be decided by a 10-point tiebreak instead of a full third set, meaning tonight’s main event will have to be off and running until the first hour. Updated at 22.05 BST
Prelude
Hello and welcome to the O2 Arena for the final match of Roger Federer’s storied career. The 41-year-old Swiss great, who has not competed since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to Hubert Hurkacz in July 2021, announced last week that he was retiring from professional tennis following a series of operations on his right knee making the long-awaited comeback his on the men’s tour is unbearable. And so he bids his farewell tonight in London at the team event he co-founded with his long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal. The two men are set to compete for Team Europe with the Team World doubles pair of Francis 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 first edition of the Laver Cup in 2017. But they are much better known for their roles in one of the great rivalries in history 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 season-ending encounter in the 2008 Wimbledon final. “I saw him play on TV before I got to the tour. I saw him succeed on TV and then (we were) able to create an amazing rivalry together,” Nadal said yesterday. “And on the other hand, something we’re probably very proud of is having a friendly rivalry. Tomorrow will be something special. Difficult. It will be hard to handle everything, especially for Roger, no doubt. But also for me. In the end, one of the most important players – if not the most important player – in my tennis career is leaving.” “The most important player in my career”: Nadal on Federer’s retirement – video Federer and Nadal will take the court after the first match of the night, a singles meeting between Team Europe’s Andy Murray and Team World’s Alex de Minaur that is currently in the second set. Brian will be here soon. Meanwhile, here’s Tumaini Carayol’s take on Federer’s swan song tonight in London. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – a group of the top three men’s tennis players of all time and the four defining rivals of a generation – were tightly packed for the Laver Cup press conference on Thursday, when all they came together. for the last time as professionals. As they reminisced about their old matches and laughed about shared memories, glorious or disastrous depending on the angle, Federer chimed in: “Sitting here, it feels good to go first of the guys,” he said, smiling. “It feels right.” In many ways, this final chapter of Federer’s career is a bleak one. Despite his reputation for avoiding serious injury during his career, his later years have been marred by physical problems. Unlike Serena Williams’ recent intense, competitive retirement Federer can’t trust his knee to last more than a short doubles match. In his final match alongside Team Europe teammate Nadal, he will enter the O2 Arena against Team World’s Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock on Friday night simply hoping to compete at a respectable level. But the circumstances fit. He will be upstaged by three of the fiercest rivals of his life, players who, along with him, have defined the last decade and a half of tennis, advancing it in so many ways. Between them they have won 66 Grand Slam titles, faced each other 234 times and spent 933 weeks at No. 1. For more than a decade they collected the late stages of every major match and prevented almost everyone else from succeeding. “Tomorrow will be something special,” Nadal said. “I think it’s very difficult, difficult. It will be difficult to manage everything, especially for Roger, no doubt. And for me too. In the end one of the most important players, if not the most important player in my tennis career, is leaving, isn’t he?”
