“Really excited to see Alcaraz play for the very first time” – Federer arrives in Berlin for Laver Cup

Roger Federer arrived in Berlin on Thursday as final preparations continued for the Laver Cup, which kicks off this weekend. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is part-owner of this event as his company TEAM8 is one of the organizers of the tournament, where Federer bid his farewell to tennis two years ago.

The Swiss will be in the stands cheering Team Europe and is especially excited to catch Carlos Alcaraz in action as the Spaniard makes his debut in the competition.

“I barely know Carlos Alcaraz so I’m really excited to see him play for the very first time,” Federer told the Laver Cup website. “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,” he laughed.

Another player that Federer is looking forward to seeing is world No 2 Alexander Zverev, who will be playing in front of his home fans at the Uber Arena.

“I think that’s going to be a great thing for him like it was for me when I played in Geneva in Switzerland,” said Federer.

“I think that Team Europe is very strong this year, it’s stacked” – Federer on Laver Cup

Not surprising that Federer is picking Team Europe to win the trophy, after Team World won the last two editions.

“I think that Team Europe is very strong this year, it’s stacked,” said Federer. “Altitude is low which is, in my mind, going to make the best players win. I think we are – I always talk as we, because I’m Europe in the singles matches, we are heavy favorites even though I know that Team World has great players right now that are red hot and playing super well, I still think most of the matches in singles are going to go Team Europe’s way and then the doubles, I feel like most are going to go Team World’s way.”

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