Federer on the scene for Borg and McEnroe’s Laver Cup finale

The players have arrived. The fans are getting ready.

Laver Cup week is here, and the 2024 festivities will officially get underway on Friday afternoon at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany. One such “fan” is Roger Federer, who will be in attendance as a spectator this time around. Federer is a founding member of the Davis Cup and retired from tennis at the 2022 event in London — playing a final doubles match with Rafael Nadal.

The Swiss held a press conference to help kick off the 2024 Laver Cup on Wednesday.

“You almost miss it when it’s already over because it’s only three days, high intensity, and you see obviously the world’s greatest players playing against each other,” Federer explained during a Wednesday press conference. “I think seeing them interact with each other on the bench is something that you don’t get a chance very often to see, especially from different countries. I think such high-stacked teams is rare to find. I think the experience overall should be really wonderful.

“I always say you have to come to experience the Laver Cup to really get an idea what it’s about.”

Much of this year’s chapter will be about the two captains. Bjorn Borg (Team Europe) and John McEnroe (Team World) have been at the head of their respective benches since the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017 and are serving in those roles for the last time in 2024. Yannick Noah will take over for Borg, while Andre Agassi is succeeding McEnroe.

“For me it’s very much a bittersweet week with Bjorn and John, because I would love them to be captains forever,” Federer said. “At the same time, we got to move with the times, I guess. It was supposed to be three years, four or two, and it ended up being seven. It’s been seven great years. Couldn’t have had better captains, to be honest.”

As for the players, Team Europe includes Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Team World’s roster consists of Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Alejandro Tabilo, Francisco Cerundolo, and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The Europeans won the first four Laver Cups but have since lost two straight.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.