Laver Cup: Who does John McEnroe treat the Federer farewell party to?
Roger Federer will play his last professional tennis match on Friday. In doubles at the Laver Cup in London. The question is: Who else will be on the court besides the Maestro?
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Sep 21, 2022, 12:29 pm
Roger Federer trained with Stefanos Tsitsipas at London's O2 Arena on Tuesday, and the two will have taken it easy. Tsitsipas has just returned from a Davis Cup encounter with Tunisia, Federer is counting down the days until his last career match. Latest status: T minus two, on Friday the Laver Cup should be ready. Federer will only compete in doubles, you don't have to worry too much about your dream partner: If Rafael Nadal is fit and willing, then there will probably be a "Fedal" final. And that on the first day of the three-day tennis break in London.
Now it's up to John McEnroe, the captain of Team World, to select two players who will be allowed to take part in this at least small moment in tennis. Anyone who knows the ambition of the US tennis legend suspects that there can only be second-best solutions to this problem anyway. Because the best variant would of course be the one in which McEnroe himself is on the court.
Federer versus Tiafoe in the Hopman Cup
But that would not do justice to the competition. The Laver Cup is supposed to be more than an exhibition fight, the matches played there are officially included in the ATP statistics. And this despite the fact that the third set in singles is torched with a match tiebreak. A certain seriousness is therefore required, Roger Federer will also be more serious about his last hurrah. After all, he helped found the Laver Cup. And great interest in ensuring that the event will continue to find its place in the tennis calendar and among the fans in the years to come.
So who gets to play for Team World? John McEnroe can't really draw from the full, a man like Nick Kyrgios would have been the right person for the aha effect. Alone, the Australian is absent from a Laver Cup event for the first time. It is easy to imagine McEnroe bringing an American variant into play, namely the duet Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock. Federer shares the memory of the legendary doubles at the Hopman Cup with Tiafoe, where the Swiss played with Belinda Bencic against Tiafoe and Serena Williams. And Jack Sock is the best doubles player, probably not only this weekend in London, but by general consensus also worldwide.
But who knows - maybe McEnroe will also opt for a combo of Diego Schwartzman and Félix Auger-Aliassime. Because it's also true, of course: all eyes will only be on one half of the court. For the last time.