In a recent interview with MOPO, Roger Federer focused on his friend and great rival on the court Rafael Nadal, who was initially among the participants in the Laver Cup 2024, scheduled this year in Berlin from today Friday 20 September to Sunday 22 September. Roger Federer has already been in Berlin for a few days to attend the competition named after the Australian legend Rod Laver.

The Swiss Maestro, talking about the Spaniard, who seems to be close to the moment of his official and definitive retirement from tennis, shared beautiful words for his friend and rival of a thousand battles, explaining how the passing of time can be useful for making decisions.

“Time eats you up. In the end it can be useful to make a decision in a given period. And if it were to end immediately, you would relax and think: Thank goodness there is no more training, thank goodness there are no more matches,” said Roger. A thought that smacks of direct experience of what happened to him two years ago.

Rafa has not resolved the doubts whether he will return to the court again in 2024 – given that one of the possibilities could be the Davis Cup Finals – or will plan a return next year.

“I had great hopes that he would somehow manage to play a match but he simply told us that he would prefer not to do it, that he can’t and he doesn’t feel ready,” analyzed Roger on the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s withdrawal from the Laver Cup, before giving his Spanish rival a personal piece of advice: “I think he has to decide what to do next and I think this is the moment he is going through right now. He has done everything for this sport. It would be phenomenal if he could last another season, but only Rafa can answer that question.”