Frances Tiafoe has recalled what he said to Federer as they shook hands after the Swiss tennis legend's farewell match at the 2022 Laver Cup in London.

World No. 11 Tiafoe is back at the Laver Cup this year, held in Vancouver, Canada, as he aims to help Team World defend their title against Team Europe. The American is accompanied by his compatriots Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, and Tommy Paul, as well as Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and Argentinian player Francisco Cerundolo. Their captain is tennis legend John McEnroe.

They have had a very strong start to the event, winning every match against Bjorn Borg's Team Europe on the first day. This included Tiafoe's doubles match with Paul, where they defeated Arthur Fils and Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 10-6.

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Tiafoe remembers Federer's emotional farewell

However, Tiafoe has also been reflecting on a significant aspect of last year's tournament, which was the final event played by 20-time Grand Slam champion and Big Three member Federer before he retired.

The 25-year-old had the opportunity to feature in the last match of the 42-year-old's career, as he partnered up with Jack Sock to face Federer and Rafael Nadal in a doubles match at the Cup. The American pair took the victory 4-6, 7-6 (2), 11-9 at the O2 Arena in London.

However, while reminiscing on that emotional day in a recent interview with The New York Times, Tiafoe said that the scores really didn't matter.

"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.

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After the match, Tiafoe exchanged a few words with Federer at the net and he has since disclosed what he said to the tennis star.

"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," he revealed.

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