Carlos Alcaraz is set to lead Team Europe to another victory at the 2024 Laver Cup, which takes place this weekend in Berlin. But the Spaniard might also get something else, as Roger Federer is ready to “apologize” to him after snubbing him for practice when competing in his last Wimbledon in 2021.
Federer, who is co-owner of the Laver Cup through his company TEAM8, is also in the German capital to watch the seventh edition of the tournament. And speaking to the Laver Cup website, the 20-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he is excited to get to know Alcaraz better.
“I barely know Carlos Alcaraz so I’m really excited to see him play for the very first time,” Federer said. “I only practiced 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,” he laughed.
Federer, who participated in the first five editions of the Laver Cup, said that he thinks Team Europe can return to their winning ways after losing the past two tournaments. “I think that Team Europe is very strong this year, it’s stacked,” he said.
To him, “Altitude is low which is, in my mind, going to make the best players win.” He also said that while 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.”
Rafael Nadal withdrew from the 2024 Laver Cup
Rafael Nadal withdrew from the event last minute, fueling retirement speculation. However, Team Europe counts with half of the World’s Top 10: Alexander Zverev (2), Alcaraz (3), Daniil Medvedev (5), Casper Ruud (9) and Grigor Dimitrov (10). Stefanos Tsitsipas (12) completes the team.
Meanwhile, Team World is led by recent US Open finalist Taylor Fritz (7). The lineup includes: Frances Tiafoe (16), Ben Shelton (17), Alejandro Tabilo (17), Francisco Cerúndolo (31) and Thanasi Kokkinakis (78). Alex de Minaur and Tommy Paul retired.
On the other hand, the 2024 Laver Cup will be the last edition with Björn Borg (Team Europe) and John McEnroe (Team World) serving as captains. Next year, Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi are set to replace them.