Tennis great Roger Federer's 24-year prolific career ended with a doubles loss alongside Rafael Nadal to Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock at the Laver Cup in the early hours of Saturday.

Federer, 41, announced his retirement plan on Twitter last week, and said that the Laver Cup would be his farewell tour.

The Swiss went through three operations to repair his right knee shortly after exiting the Wimbledon Championships men's singles quarterfinal round in July 2021, and had not played any game till this time in London. As he only registered for the doubles event at the Laver Cup, his defeat to Hubert Hurkacz of Poland is now recorded as his last match as a singles player.

Federer won 103 tour-level titles and spent 310 weeks as world No. 1 in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings. He has 20 Grand Slam titles to his name, as well as a gold and a silver at the Olympic Games.

Representing Team Europe, Federer and Nadal lost to American rising star Tiafoe and his compatriot Sock who played for Team World 4-6, 7-6 (2), 11-9 in a showdown that crossed midnight in front of an electric crowd.

Federer shed tears in his post-match speech.

"It's been perfect journey, I would do it all over again," he said.

"I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time. Everything was the last time. And funny enough, with all the matches and having the guys being here – fans, family, friends – I didn't feel the stress so much, even though I did think [an injury might happen] in the match. So I am so happy I made it through. The match was great. I couldn't be happier. It's been wonderful. And of course, playing with Rafa on the same team and having the guys – everybody here, all the legends – Rocket, Edberg, Stefan, thank you."

Nadal, 36, has been a long-time rival on the court, and a friend to Federer. The Spaniard couldn't keep it in after the match, in the presence of the other two players of what people referred to as the "Big Four", Novak Djokovic from Serbia and Andy Murray from UK. 

"When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving, too," Nadal said.

Federer's retirement came just three weeks after Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam title holder who joins Federer as two of the greatest of all time in this sport, retired after her third-round loss at the U.S. Open.

(With input from AP)