Federer to Wawrinka: I think of you, I miss you, I love you

Roger Federer bid farewell to Stan Wawrinka with a video message published by SRF Sport after his compatriot's final match. The goodbye comes in French:

"I think of you, I miss you, I love you. Enjoy the moment. See you soon."

Wawrinka ended his career on Tuesday, October 27 at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, beaten in the first round by Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 7-6(2). He is 41. The night before, the St. Jakobshalle had held a farewell ceremony for him.

Federer opens by congratulating him "from the bottom of my heart" on what he calls an incredible career, then recalls what they lived through together, the Davis Cup in Lille and the Beijing Olympics. In 2008 the two won Olympic doubles gold, and in 2014 they brought the Davis Cup to Switzerland.

Wawrinka leaves with three Grand Slam titles, the Australian Open 2014, Roland Garros 2015 and US Open 2016, and 16 ATP titles in total. At his press conference after the loss to Lehecka, he called it "an ideal ending, a dream ending" and admitted that plenty of tears would come the next day.

The two will be back on court together on December 19 at the Palexpo in Geneva, in the exhibition that will officially celebrate Wawrinka's retirement, with Andy Murray and Gaël Monfils. Federer's "see you soon" already has a date.