Nadal reflects on Federer's retirement: "When he called me, I held back, but my eyes filled with tears"

In September 2022, Roger Federer, iconic member of the Big 3 and considered one of the greatest players of all time, announced his retirement.

The Swiss had been absent from the courts for a year following a knee injury, and the announcement of the end of his career did not come as a huge surprise.

However, his long-time friend and former rival on the circuit, Rafael Nadal, was deeply moved when he heard the news.

It was Federer himself who had called him ten days before the official announcement to inform him of his final decision.

"When he called me, I held back, but my eyes filled with tears, to be honest.

When you see someone who has played a very important role in your life decide to retire, you know it's a difficult time.

When the discussion was over, certain memories came back to me and I could hardly hold back the tears," he recalled in the documentary The Last Twelve Days.

"In this world, it's easier to improve when you have positive examples in front of you. That's what I had with Roger.

He gave me a lot of emotions and a lot of memories. The feeling before a Grand Slam final against Roger is different.

It's a different environment, a different kind of pressure. Knowing that I wasn't going to have that feeling for the rest of my life was something that hurt.

Although we have a great rivalry on the pitch, we've been able to have a very good friendship off it. And that's something very hard to find in this ever-competitive world."