Serbian tennis star says Federer\u2019s final bow was \u2018a very emotional, very touching moment\u2019
\nTEL AVIV
\nNovak Djokovic said he wants his biggest rivals to be by his side when he brings the curtain down on his career, much like Roger Federer\u2019s emotional goodbye to the game last week.
\nImages of Federer and Rafa Nadal – who shared one of tennis\u2019s most enthralling rivalries – sitting together and crying after combining in a Laver Cup doubles defeat at London\u2019s O2 Arena on Friday went viral on social media.
\nDjokovic and Andy Murray – two of Federer\u2019s other main rivals – were also present for the 41-year-old\u2019s final bow.
\n\u201cIt was just a very touching, very emotional moment,\u201d Djokovic told reporters on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, where he will play an ATP 250 event this week.
\n\u201cSeeing his kids and his family, it got me emotional as well. I also must say I was thinking about how it would look for me when I say goodbye to tennis.
\n\u201cThere is definitely one thing that I will wish to have, other than, of course, my family and the close people in my life, I would love to have my biggest rivals and competitors there. Because it added something more special, added more importance to that moment.\u201d
\nThe 35-year-old, who is one major title behind Nadal\u2019s men\u2019s record of 22, said felt no issues with his wrist, which had been bothering him during the Laver Cup in London last week.
\nDjokovic said the Spaniard remains his biggest rival. \u201cWe played the most matches against each other of any other rivalry in the history of tennis,\u201d said Djokovic, who missed the Australian and US Opens this year due to not being vaccinated against Covid-19.
\n\u201cThe rivalry is very special and keeps going. Hopefully, we\u2019ll get a chance to play against each other more times. Because it\u2019s exciting for us and also for tennis fans and sport fans around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Serbian tennis star says Federer\u2019s final bow was \u2018a very emotional, very touching moment\u2019 TEL AVIV Novak Djokovic said he wants his biggest rivals to be by his side when he brings the curtain down on his career, much like Roger Federer\u2019s emotional goodbye to the game last week. Images of Federer and Rafa Nadal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-286360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n