Roger Federer’s classy response to Rafael Nadal after tennis rival’s emotional retirement message

Roger Federer on Saturday responded to Rafael Nadal on his epic retirement message for the Swiss tennis legend on Thursday in a classy manner. Federer had earlier announced his intention to retire from tennis next week at the end of the Laver Cup event in London where the two rivals will reunite one last time for Team Europe.

Moments after his retirement revelation on Thursday evening which shocked world tennis, Nadal had taken to social media to congratulate his “rival and friend” with a lengthy post. He had written, “Dear Roger, my friend and rival. I wish this day would have never come… it’s a sad day for me personally and for sports people around the world. I said it to you when we spoke and now it’s here. It’s been a pleasure but also an honour and privilege to share all these years with you, living so many amazing moments on and off the court. We will have many more moments to share together in the future, there are still lots of things to do together, we know that. For now, I truly wish you all the happiness with your wife, Mirka, your kids, your family and enjoy what’s ahead of you. I’ll see you in London at the @lavercup.”

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On Friday, Federer responded by sharing the post on his Instagram story and replied saying, “Thanks for the nice words, Rafa,” along with a handshake emoticon.

The two will reunite next week in London at the O2 Arena for the 2022 edition of the Laver Cup. It will be Nadal’s first appearance at the event since 2019. It will also be the third time that he will play alongside Federer in the eevent after 2017 and 2019. Laver Cup will also comprise of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as the Big Four of men’s tennis will unite for the first time ever. The other two members of Team Europe are Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud.