The 20-time Grand Slam champion announced last he will bow out of the sport after a 24-year-long career. 

Swiss tennis GOAT, Roger Federer, will play his final professional match at the upcoming Laver Cup on Friday.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion announced last week that he will bow out of the sport he so long dominated after a 24-year-long career. 

Federer has said he will not play in the singles, but instead, his final match will be a doubles game for Team Europe at London’s O2 Arena. He hopes to play alongside his friend and longtime rival on the court, Rafael Nadal. 

The two greats last played together at the 2017 Laver Cup, and Federer believes it would be a great final moment for him to play alongside the Spanish star. 

“For us to go through a career that we both have had and to come out the other side and being able to have a nice relationship is maybe a great message as well to not just tennis, but sports and maybe even beyond.” Federer said ahead of Friday’s match. 

Nadal and Federer have battled it out for the last decade for world number one, meeting forty times throughout their illustrious careers, including nine Grand Slam finals.

The big four

Federer, who is 41, will be joined by other stars of men’s tennis as teams compete head-to-head in nine singles and three doubles matches for three days.

Along with Nadal, he will also be joined by Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray who will all compete as a team to win the Laver Cup for Europe. 

In an annual team competition like no other, Team Europe will face Team World, who will star Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Diego Schwartzman, Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur, Tommy Paul, and Jack Sock.

This will be the fourth and final appearance for the Swiss at the Laver Cup, having previously competed in 2017, 2018, and 2019. 

The doubles pairing will be decided by Swedish team captain and former world number one, Bjorn Borg.