OMNISPORTS

Tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have no plans to become a future doubles pairing, despite joining forces at the Laver Cup.

For the first time in their careers, Federer and world number one Nadal played on the same side of the net, coming together as a doubles pair for Europe against the World team in Prague on Saturday.

With 35 slams between them, Federer and Nadal defeated American duo Jack Sock and Sam Querrey 6-4 1-6 10-5 to give Europe a 9-3 lead in the inaugural Laver Cup.

It was a memorable contest for the duo as well as the crowd in the Czech Republic but it is set to be a one-off pairing, the Swiss and Spaniard saying it was "not a good idea".

"I don't want to kill your expectations," Federer told Nadal.

"For me, personally, it is a great moment too. We only ever practised once together, back at the World Tour Finals, so we don't show each other a lot. We will always be rivals. But this was something very special, it was an absolute pleasure being on the court with Rafa and seeing his decision-making process.

"I understand that people only expect a win from us, but it's very complicated, we're playing indoors against the big servers, and I hadn’t played doubles for so long, I was trying to remember what to do.

"The two of us getting together, our two fan groups having to get together, that was interesting too. It was a success, but this isn’t just about us. The celebration of Rod Laver and having John and Bjorn there over-rides the doubles, but this was still an important moment for us."

Nadal added: "It was an unforgettable day, after the history behind us to be on the same part of the court fighting for the team is something we enjoyed a lot."