Frances Tiafoe divulges his words to Roger Federer after beating him in his farewell match at Laver Cup 2022

Roger Federer walked away from the sport he dominated 12 months ago, playing for the last time at the Laver Cup.

In what was almost a fairytale ending to his career, Federer partnered with long-term rival and friend Rafael Nadal to play a doubles match. The two former World No. 1s took on the American pair of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe and ended up losing 4-6, 7-6 (2), 11-9 at the O2 Arena in London.

With this year's edition of the Laver Cup underway in Canada, Tiafoe looked back at the events of 2022, including the win against Federer and Nadal. He said that the result did not matter that day owing to the significance of the match.

"Me and Jack were joking, should we go hard, should we not, should we make it a good show? I’m glad we went out there and played hard. The result was so irrelevant. Tennis won that night," he said. (via New York Times)

When the players shook hands at the end of the match, Tiafoe and Federer exchanged a few words at the net. Asked what he told the Swiss maestro, the American replied:

“Thank you for the last 20-plus years. Thank you not only for your on-court play, but for who you are as an individual. What you’ve done will never die.”

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"To play them together is iconic" – Frances Tiafoe on playing against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Laver Cup.

Despite winning the doubles match against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup last year, Frances Tiafoe has always maintained that the significance of the match was much larger than the scoreline.

He and Jack Sock scored an impressive victory in the deciding tie-breaker to take the match 4-6, 7-6(2), 11-9. For Tiafoe, playing against the two legends will forever remain an iconic memory.

"To play against them, even if one of them weren’t retiring, to play against them together is iconic, and as Fed’s last match... So, that’s even more iconic, and the crowd is going wild," he once said on the ATP Tennis Radio podcast.

"There will never be another one. No one’s going to play the game like he did. No one’s going to carry themselves like he did. He never sweated, he never had a wrinkle on his shirt. I’m happy I got to play against him. I’m happy I got to call him a friend,” he added.