Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer reunited for a press conference in New York yesterday, where they announced they would be taking part in the Laver Cup, a new exhibition tournament organised by Rod Laver.
Nadal and Federer doubles
Despite their fierce rivalry that has lasted for over a decade, Federer and Nadal will be playing on the same team, which means they will become doubles partners for the first time.
“It’s going to be unbelievable to be on the same side of the net as Rafa, finally,” said Federer. “I can actually support it and say “hit one more” and take joy from it. I can’t wait to play doubles with Rafa at the Laver Cup and just sit on the sidelines and really want Rafa to hit one good shot after another. It’s going to be a good thing.”
Nadal and Federer will be on the “Europe” team which will be headed by Bjorn Borg, facing off against “The World” which will be lead by John McEnroe. Each team will consist of six players plus the team captain, and each captain will remain in their role for three years. Although Nadal and Federer have already committed to play, the other four players of their team and team “The World” will qualify by ranking following Wimbledon each year.
The competition will take place from the 22nd to the 24th of September 2017, and will consist of three singles matches and four doubles matches each day. All matches will be best of three sets, going to a ten-point tiebreak in the third. The tournament will be held at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
Federer confident in tournament attraction
In recent years there has been growing concern over the yearly ATP calendar, with injuries becoming more common possibly due to the amount of tournaments players compete in. However, Federer did not think it would be a problem to get other players coming to the Laver Cup.
“I hope it’s not going to be an issue,” he said, speaking of getting players to compete in this event. “Knowing how much respect Rod has in the game, I see this as a no-brainer for players, wanting to be a part of it. Why not spend an interesting, cool, fun weekend with all of the best players in the world, with those kind of captains? We’ll see, and the future’s going to tell. I’m going to be there. Rafa’s going to be there.”