The 41-year-old received a long ovation after walking off court for the final time as he retired as a professional. The Swiss, who won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, is considered one of the best players in tennis history.

“It’s been a wonderful day. I’m happy, not sad. It feels great to be here. I’m happy I made it through,” he said.

Federer cried as he hugged Nadal and other players, then took acclaim from the thousands of fans who chanted his name at the O2 Arena in London.

Nadal also could not hold back the tears. The 36-year-old Spaniard cried as he sat alongside Federer while the pair listened to British singer Ellie Goulding, who rounded off a memorable night with a performance.

Federer and Nadal – for so long rivals at the top of the men’s game – joined forces to play doubles against American pair Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in the annual team event between Europe and the rest of the world.

Despite Federer not having played competitively for over a year, the veteran duo pushed Sock and Tiafoe before losing 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 11-9 as Team World levelled at 2-2 at the end of play on the opening day.

Federer and Nadal – affectionately nicknamed ‘Fedal’ – almost won it. The pair had a match point at 9-8 in the decider, but Federer could only lunge for a forehand which he pushed into the net.

The defeat brought the former world number one’s 25-year professional career to a close after his 1,750^th competitive match across singles and doubles.

“It’s been the perfect journey. I’d do it all again,” said Federer as tried to hold back tears during his on-court speech.

Federer’s career had long been on the downward slope, having battled a knee injury for the past two years and needing three operations in a bid to overcome the problem.

He had not played a competitive match since losing to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year.

Despite being restricted to only three of the 11 Grand Slams staged since the start of 2020, he hoped as recently as July he would still be able to return to the major tournaments.

But, after a scan brought further bad news, Federer announced last week he was going to retire because his “body’s message lately has been clear”.

All we can say is retirement comes to all but greater the player, harder the farewell moment. He has not only set a plethora of records but he has gained massive popularity any tennis player has ever seen. We all will surely miss him seeing in the tennis court.