Tsitsipas approached Federer and asked:

- It would mean everything to me if I could get one of your rackets.

I have followed you since I was three years old.

If I could have a racket to frame and keep in my house, sharing it with you would mean an awful lot to me.

I hope you don't mind giving me something that is part of your identity.

Federer fished one of his Wilson rackets out of the bag and handed it to Tsitsipas.

Cry at breakfast

- Obviously he agreed to it.

Roger was an idol when I was growing up.

It would have felt wrong not to have brought me anything from his last match.

He was very nice and sometimes I sleep with the racket, says Tsitsipas to the ATP tour.

Tsitsipas was devastated by Federer's departure and cried like many others.

Even at breakfast the next day the tears came.

- I hope my farewell will be the same, says 24-year-old Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas has reached the quarter-finals of the major tournament Astana Open (seven of the world's top ten at the start) in Kazakhstan and qualified for the ATP finals in Turin in mid-November.

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Roger Federer burst into tears and hugged his family after his retirement from professional tennis last night.

Photo: Kin Cheung/TT