Watch: Nadal’s tear-jerking statement after Federer’s retirement: ‘…an important part of my life is leaving too’

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer share a rivalry like no one sports history before. On the court, where they have faced each other 40 times over the last two decades, they have been fierce competitors, hailing each other as “greatest rivals”, but off the court, they are great friends. And the bond they share was evident from the videos and pictures that went viral all over the internet after Federer’s final match of his illustrious career, at the Laver Cup in London where the Spaniard was seen in tears. But what he truly felt in that moment was perfectly summed up during his interview later.

After the match, Nadal sat down for an interview with Federer by his side where he talked about being part of this epic moment in men’s tennis.

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“For me, have been huge honor to be a part of this amazing moment of the history of our sport, and at the same time a lot of years sharing a lot of things together,” Nadal said. “When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too because all the moments that he have been next or in front me in important moments of my life.

“So have been emotional see the family, see all the people. Yeah, difficult to describe. But, yeah, amazing moment.”

It was an entertaining night for the London crowd who got to see the Federer and Nadal play alongside each other one last time after which both were overcome by emotions.

“I think every year the personal relationship gets better and better, on a daily basis,” Nadal, 36, told reporters. “I think in some way we understand at the end we have a lot of things similar. We approach the life probably similar.

“On court we have completely opposite styles, and that’s what probably makes our matches and our rivalry probably one of the biggest and most interesting.

“Very proud to be part of his career in some way. But even happier to finish our career like friends after everything we shared on court like rivals.”