Rafael Nadal pens emotional tribute to Roger Federer after retirement news

Rafael Nadal saluted his long-time rival Roger Federer and said news of his retirement is ‘a sad day for me personally and for sports around the world’. 

Federer announced on Thursday that he will retire from the sport at the age of 41, with the last tournament of his illustrious career to be the Laver Cup in London, scheduled to be held at the O2 Arena next weekend.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, has enjoyed numerous duels with Federer over the years, with thrilling finals and agonising defeats at the hands of the Swiss.

Along with Novak Djokovic they have proven a dominant ‘Big Three’ in men’s tennis and news of Federer’s retirement led to Nadal penning an emotional tribute.  

Rafa Nadal (left, pictured in 2006) paid tribute to long-standing rival Roger Federer on Twitter

Writing on Twitter, Nadal described it as a ‘sad day’ for him and the rest of sporting world

‘Dear Roger, my friend and rival. I wish this day would have never come,’ he tweeted.

‘It’s a sad day for me personally and for sports around the world. 

‘It’s been a pleasure but also an honor 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.’ 

Federer and Nadal will team up at the Laver Cup in London next week for what will be an emotional farewell to the sport for Federer. 

Over the last two decades Nadal (left) and Federer (right) shared plenty of battles on the court

In more recent years they collaborated to raise money for their charitable foundations

While they have been great rivals over the past two decades, there has been an underlying respect and they have collaborated in recent years for charity. 

In 2010 Federer and Nadal played matches in aid of the ‘Joining Forces for the Benefit of Children’.

Proceeds from that event went to the Rafael Nadal Foundation and days later they played off again for the ‘Match for Africa’, with proceeds then going to the Roger Federer Foundation.

Then, in 2020, the long-standing rivals revived the ‘Match for Africa’ at Cape Town Stadium in South Africa.

There were 51,954 spectators in attendance to watch them play each other, setting the record for the highest ever attendance at a tennis match in the world.

Federer (left) paid his own tribute to his rivals, saying he was ‘lucky’ to have had ‘epic matches’

Federer didn’t name players like Nadal specifically in his retirement announcement but did give a nod to those who had rivalled him over the years. 

‘I would also like to thank my competitors on the court,’ Federer said. 

‘I was lucky enough to play so many epic matches that I will never forget.

‘We battled fairly, with passion and intensity, and I always tried my best to respect the history of the game. 

‘I feel extremely grateful we pushed each other, and together we took tennis to new levels.’