Roger Federer was captured by the cameras practicing at the Uber Arena in Berlin ahead of the 2024 Laver Cup. The tennis tournament, which is a brainchild of Federer’s management company, Tennis Australia and Brazilian business mogul Jorge Paulo Lemann, is where the Swiss pulled the curtain down on his illustrious career two years ago.
Federer was at the core of the Laver Cup’s formation back in 2017, with the idea behind the tournament being that tennis should have an event similar to golf’s Ryder Cup. The Swiss was an avid fan of Australian former player Rod Laver growing up, and decided to name the tournament after him.
This year’s edition of the Laver Cup is set to take place in Berlin’s Uber Arena, and the 20-time Major winner reached the German capital well ahead of th tournament’s commencement. Cameras also caught the former World No. 1 taking to the Uber Arena court for a brief hitting session, with John McEnroe’s brother Patrick watching on courtside.
Watch the video of Roger Federer hitting in Berlin’s Uber Arena ahead of the 2024 Laver Cup below:
The former World No. 1 featured in four of the first five editions of the Laver Cup, and led Team Europe to three back-to-back titles from 2017 to 2019. However, his farewell outing at the tournament in 2022 saw Team Europe lose the event to Team World for the first time.
This time around, the Swiss is particularly excited about reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz’s participation in the team tennis tournament.
“I’m really excited to see Carlos Alcaraz” – Roger Federer on Spaniard’s maiden Laver Cup appearance
Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Laver Cup presentation at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (Source: Getty)
Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Laver Cup presentation at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (Source: Getty)
During a recent interaction with the media, Roger Federer laid bare his excitement at watching Carlos Alcaraz in action at the 2024 Laver Cup. The 21-year-old Spaniard has never been a part of the team tennis event before, and is expected to lead Team Europe’s charge to reclaim the Laver Cup trophy, which went Team World’s way in 2022 and again last year.
The Swiss also recalled practicing once with Alcaraz but then refusing to hit with him again.
“I barely know Carlos Alcaraz so I’m really excited to see him play for the very first time. 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,” Federer said.
The 20-time Major winner also weighed in on Team Europe’s Laver Cup chances this year, opining that its lineup, featuring Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas, is a formidable one.