Federer turns mentor for Laver teammates

LONDON — Roger Federer's tearful farewell to his playing career is over. True to his word, the 20-time Grand Slam champion did not say goodbye for good to tennis.

A day after heading into retirement with a Laver Cup doubles match alongside longtime rival Rafael Nadal — the pair sat crying, side by side, when it ended — Federer was back on the sideline Saturday, offering coaching tips during a victory by his Team Europe fill-in for singles, Matteo Berrettini, and chatting with Novak Djokovic during his first match in months.

"Having the chance to live what we lived yesterday is something that's going to be stuck in my heart and my brain forever. I'm not lying when I say that I'm here because of him. Like, he was really the one that I was looking up to," said Berrettini, a 26-year-old from Italy who was the runner-up to Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2021.