Roger Federer in attendance during the 2025 Wimbledon | Credit: IMAGO / Visionhaus
The eighth edition of the Laver Cup will be played on September 19 - 21, at the Chase Centre, in San Francisco, United States. Overall, Team Europe have won the competition five times, while Team World have emerged victorious in the remaining two occasions.
Looking back at the way the Laver Cup has taken its course over the years, Roger Federer feels that the tournament has exceeded expectations. A sellout crowd is expected at the Chase Centre on Friday, a venue which will be hosting the event for the first time.
“Very happy with the years, the cities, and the success we've had with the event. Me personally, I feel we've completely exceeded my expectations of when we had the vision of creating the Laver Cup and really shining a light on the past generation that have paved the way for us to and that has been amazing."
"You know, it's phenomenal that in San Francisco now here we almost have 19,000 people a session and we sell out five sessions. I didn't expect that,” said Roger Federer, in an interview, ahead of the 2025 Laver Cup.
John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, two stalwarts of the game, have been actively involved in the Laver Cup since its inception and was the captain of Team World and Team Europe respectively, for six of the first seven editions. Federer feels that the duo has played a major mart in the huge success of the competition.
“I'm super grateful to John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg who helped out at the time when nobody knew what the Laver Cup was going to be like. But I'm happy to see that the players are really attracted to it and I hope that the fans also really love it because that was the idea to bring a bit of a new concept to tennis as well, which I think can be quite beneficial for a lot of people,” added the former Tennis star.
Team Europe have a start-studded line-up, including the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune and Casper Ruud. On the other hand, Team World’s roster comprise Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur as the marquee players. They will be missing out on the services of Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul owing to injuries, while Frances Tiafoe also withdrew fom the tournament.
Federer feels that Team Europe has the edge in this edition of the Laver Cup, even though he added it will be tricky for the travelling team to play in Los Angeles, especially after the long journey towards west and the jet lag also coming into play.
“I have the feeling as we saw that the west coast can be a tricky place to play for the Europeans, as sometimes when they travel from Europe, it's far away and with jet lag it can take its toll,” quoted the Swiss.
Federer added that the doubles fixture won’t be a crucial part of the event this time around. He expects it will come down to the singles to decide the fate and that’s exactly where Team Europe will have a head start, with Carlos Alcaraz representing them.
"I think the doubles will not be as crucial this time around because both teams are equally strong in the doubles. So, it's going to come down to the singles. This is where I think Europe will have the edge. With Carlos Alcaraz on the team and him arrived already and ready to go, I give Europe the edge here in San Francisco to take it home,” summed up Roger Federer.
