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Frances Tiafoe has explained what it was like to face Roger Federer in the final match of the Swiss star\u2019s career. The 42-year-old retired at the Laver Cup last year, pairing up with Rafael Nadal in the doubles where they lost to Tiafoe and Jack Sock. But the American believes that the result was \u201cirrelevant\u201d as he hailed Federer\u2019s impact on tennis, also sharing what he told his rival at the net.<\/p>\n
The Laver Cup is back for its sixth edition 12 months after Federer ended his career at the tournament while surrounded by his old rivals – Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – on Team Europe. When he retired, the former world No 1 hadn\u2019t played a match in 14 months as he stepped onto the court one final time with Nadal to face Team World\u2019s Tiafoe and Sock.<\/p>\n
The result went down to a super match tiebreak, where the American duo saved a match point against \u2018Fedal\u2019 to win 4-6 7-6(2) 11-9. But Tiafoe now insists that the result doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 The world No 11 is back representing Team World for the fourth time and has reflected on coming out as the victor in Federer\u2019s final match.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and Jack were joking, should we go hard, should we not, should we make it a good show? I\u2019m glad we went out there and played hard,\u201d the three-time title winner told the New York Times. \u201cThe result was so irrelevant. Tennis won that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news<\/strong><\/p>\n Just in <\/strong> Draper spills the beans on Murray giving the middle finger for boozy singalong[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n Tiafoe also opened up on what he said to Federer at the net as the 42-year-old\u2019s career came to an end when the final ball had been hit. Repeating his kind words, the 25-year-old added: \u201c\u2018Thank you for the last 20-plus years. Thank you not only for your on-court play, but for who you are as an individual. What you\u2019ve done will never die.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The doubles clash wasn\u2019t Tiafoe\u2019s only significant moment at last year\u2019s Laver Cup as he won the final match of the weekend against Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Team World lift the trophy for the first time in the tournament\u2019s history. And the world No 11 has already gotten back to winning ways at this year\u2019s edition in Vancouver.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/4974950.jpg?r=1695496528178\")
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