Roger Federer has kept a relatively low profile in tennis since he retired back in 2022, but all that is set to change this week.
Federer has made the odd appearance at major tennis events over the last couple of years, but the 20-time Grand Slam-winning icon has been enjoying the post tennis life since he called time on his career at the 2022 Laver Cup in London.
Now Federer is set to be back in the tennis spotlight after he arrived early in Berlin to have a full presence in this year’s Laver Cup tournament.
Federer was pivotal to the Laver Cup becoming a reality, as he aimed to serve up an event that paid tribute to Aussie tennis legend Laver.
The team event has been running since 2017 with a Team Europe team led by Bjorn Borg set to take on a Team World side captained by Jon McEnroe over the next few days.
Team World won the title for the first time in 2023, but Federer is convinced Team Europe will strike back this time, as they have Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsias in their star-studded line-up.
Team World are also looking strong, with Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe giving their line-up a very American feel.
“I think that Team Europe is very strong this year, it’s stacked,” Federer told the Laver Cup website.
“In the singles matches, we are heavy favourites even though I know that Team World has great players right now that are red hot and playing super well, I still think most of the matches in singles are going to go Team Europe’s way and then the doubles, I feel like most are going to go Team World’s way.”
Federer also revealed he is planning to spend some time with Alcaraz in Berlin, with the young Spaniard arriving on the tennis scene after the exit of a player he has admitted was his favourite growing up.
“I barely know Carlos Alcaraz so I’m really excited to see him play for the very first time,” said Federer.
“I only practised once with him at Wimbledon when he was still a junior, and then the next day, my coach said, ‘Do you want to warm up with him again?’ and I said, ‘No, it’s okay, I’d rather warm up with his coach, who was my generation, Juan Carlos Ferrero.’ I can apologize to Carlos this week!”
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Federer looked back on the evolution of the Laver Cup and admitted the thrill of winning as a team is an unusual experience for a tennis player.
“There was a lot of uncertainty at the very beginning when we started seven years ago,” he reflected. “Was everything going to go according to plan? Were people going to show up? Did they like the product? Were the players going to show up?
“Being a player myself and also an organizer and trying to come up with a concept — it was quite the trip,” said the 43-year-old, who famously hatched the idea for the competition while in a car with his agent Tony Godsick while they commuted during the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
“It’s like a brotherhood getting together, paying tribute to the past generation, bringing in the new generation and then morphing it together Ryder Cup-style and coming up with a concept that would work throughout a weekend,” he explained, adding that he hopes players leave Laver Cup with memories, emotions and fresh motivation.
“Being in a team environment, I think for an individual athlete, like a tennis player is a great, great thing and that’s why I’ve always been a big team player. And for me, the Laver Cup is an amazing combination of all that.
“Being on the team with other heroes and being together, having dinner together, lunch together, talking tennis all day, and just feeding off one another, and hopefully leaving the Laver Cup motivated and inspired to go on and do great things and win every tournament you possibly can.
“I feel like the Laver Cup did that for me as well. It really gave me something to look forward to. And then also something to talk about after I had left it.
“I think for us individual athletes sometimes it’s tough, you know. When you win you’re alone on the courts, right? And it’s game, set and match and you win and you’re there all by yourself. You’d like to hug the whole crowd, but they’re tucked away.
“And that’s why I think winning in a team is a great thing and can release a lot of great emotions.”
