Data map: Federer salutes.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yin Liqin
In the early morning of the 24th Beijing time, "Swiss King" Roger Federer ushered in the last dance of his career.
Together with his former "enemy" Nadal, he joined hands to draw an end to his 24-year tennis career.
On the first match day of the Laver Cup, Federer and Nadal faced off against Sock and Thiafoe of the World Team.
The two sides fought three sets, and Federer/Nadal was reversed after winning the first set, and finally lost 1:2 regretfully, leaving regrets in the last battle of their careers.
Some people say that Federer opened the golden age of men's tennis, and his graceful swing on the court made the passionate court more elegant and freehand.
The departure of Federer also opened the prelude to the farewell of the "Big 4" in tennis, and with it, there are also the green years of a generation of fans.
In those years, the "Finner Judgment" who stayed up late and chased after
In the last professional match, Federer chose to play alongside Nadal.
The duel between the two was once the most eye-catching existence in the world of tennis.
It may be difficult for you to comment on who is greater between the two, but every time they meet, there will always be different sparks.
At the 2004 Miami Masters, the two long-haired teenagers met for the first time.
At that time, Federer ranked first in the world and held two Grand Slam championships.
At the age of 18, Nadal was still a fledgling teenager in Mallorca.
He has a racket in his left hand and has a wild style of play. He has a sleeveless suit, pirate pants, and long hair, showing his personality and coolness from head to toe.
Data map: Federer and Nadal took a selfie for a commemorative photo.
When "Fei-style elegance" meets "Na-style wildness", the young Nadal picks down the rising star, and also starts the story of "love and kill" between the two for 15 years.
And Federer may not have thought that this bohemian young man in front of him will be the biggest "enemy" in his career.
From 2004 to 2019, "The Romance of Feiner" staged a full 40 rounds.
Although Nadal has an advantage of 24 wins and 16 losses, Federer is a well-deserved "king of grass".
8 Wimbledon championships and a 65-game winning streak in grass matches are enough to prove his dominance in grass events.
Sadly, Federer's winning streak was eventually ended by Nadal.
The 2008 Wimbledon men's singles final is one of the greatest matches in tennis history.
With the pouring rain and the powerful impact of Nadal again and again, Federer's last guard of the "back garden" was also broken.
Some people commented that the 2008 Wimbledon men's singles final covered all the essence of tennis: technology, speed, strength, endurance, willpower, confrontation, reversal, sportsmanship and so on.
In the long history of tennis, countless "five-set battles" are like a drop in the ocean, but this epic duel is destined to remain forever in history.
Data map: Swiss king Federer.
The hero falls before time
In the long years, Federer and Nadal ushered in the peak moment almost at the same time, and they also experienced the drama of declining and making a comeback.
When the thousand sails are over, winning or losing on the field is no longer important.
Compared with the battle in the arena, the two of them are more suitable to use "accompaniment" to describe.
Whenever Federer is in a slump, as long as Nadal performs well in the Grand Slams, it can always inspire the former's fighting spirit, and vice versa.
They are both enemies and friends, and they achieve each other. No one is willing to stop first, and no one is willing to be the first to grow old before their opponents.
However, heroes have their time.
The 41-year-old Federer is gradually losing ground in the "big battle" with Nadal and Djokovic, and the knee injury that has plagued him for many years also occurs from time to time.
However, due to his age, even if he can recover from the injury, his competitive state is already much worse than before.
Data map: In the 2018 Australian Open men's singles final, Federer won his 20th career Grand Slam championship.
When the news of Federer's official retirement came out, fans probably weren't surprised, after all, rumors of his retirement have long existed.
From 2013 to 2016, under the dual pressure of injury and age, Federer experienced the darkest moment of his career.
Many people feel that he is no longer far from the farewell arena.
However, at the Australian Open in 2017, the 36-year-old Federer returned with a full body of injuries and won the long-lost championship. In 2018, he returned to the world No. 1 throne.
The sport of tennis has also changed over time.
He fought these changes single-handedly, against younger rising stars, with scarred knees and ruthless times.
In the cruel arena, almost no one can resist the baptism of years.
But the good news is that in this tug-of-war with time, Federer persisted long enough.
Data map: In the 2019 Wimbledon men's singles final, Djokovic (left) won the championship and Federer won the runner-up.
goodbye our youth
In the Laver Cup, which started on the 23rd local time, Federer and his contemporaries Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, etc. jointly represented the European team.
When the tennis "Big4" reunited, the memory of a generation of youth was frozen.
Since the rise of Djokovic and Murray in 2008, the "Big Four" have dominated the world's men's tennis for more than a decade. Any two of the four are facing each other across the net, creating countless classic moments in tennis history.
With the repeated injuries of Murray in recent years, the term "Big Four" has gradually been replaced by "Finard".
Today, Federer, the eldest of the four, is the first to retire, which also means that "Finard" has come to the junction of breaking up.
After him, Nadal and Djokovic have also entered the twilight of their careers, and the "post-90s" and even "post-00s" are gradually taking control of the stadium.
Time flies, heroes twilight.
Those days that once dominated the tennis world, as well as the youth that fans never return, are destined to become a history that will be missed in the future.
(Reporter Xing Rui)