Swiss great Federer is one of the founders of the Laver Cup, and thinks the presence of US Open champion and men’s world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz could give Team Europe the edge.
“I think Europe is probably the favourite – mainly because of Alcaraz and (Alexander) Zverev on the team,” he said.
“Especially Alcaraz – he’s playing tennis on another level, honestly. I always enjoy watching Carlos – he’s a real treat to watch.
“I do think that Europe probably overall has a stronger team, and I think the doubles are not as crucial this time around because I think both teams are about equally strong in the doubles. It’s going to come down to the singles.
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‘I give Europe the edge’ – Federer tips Alcaraz to make difference in Laver Cup
Video credit: TNT Sports
“I think with Carlos Alcaraz on the team and him already arriving in San Francisco and ready to go, I give Europe the edge here in San Francisco to take it home again.”
Alcaraz was Team Europe’s star performer a year ago as he claimed a Laver Cup-record eight points to help secure victory.
One of the standout names on Team World is rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca.
“I’d really like to see him play,” Federer said about Fonseca. “I actually met him for the first time today. I think he has huge talent, and he’s a super nice guy – you only hear good things about him.
“I’ll definitely be there when he plays. I hope he gets to play several matches so I can really see how good he is.”
The Laver Cup was first played in 2017 and this will be the first year that there is a change of captains.
John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg led Team World and Team Europe, respectively, in the first seven editions of the event but have been replaced by Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah.
Federer says he is “super grateful” to McEnroe and Borg for their role in helping the Laver Cup “exceed” his expectations.
“The Laver Cup has really evolved in a great way, we are really happy with the success we have had with the event,” he added.
“Personally I feel we have completely exceeded my expectations of when we had the vision of creating the Laver Cup and shining a light on the past generation that has paved the way for us. That has been amazing.
“It’s phenomenal that here in San Francisco we have almost 19,000 people a session and we sell out five sessions – I didn’t expect that.
“But I am super grateful to John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg who helped out at a time when nobody knew what the Laver Cup was really going to be like.
“I am happy to see the players are really attracted to it and I hope the fans really love it because that was the idea, to bring a bit of a new concept to tennis, which I think can be quite beneficial for a lot of people.”
How to watch 2025 Laver Cup
The action kicks off at 21:00 UK time on TNT Sports 4 on Friday, September 19.
The second match will follow immediately after, before the action resumes for the second set of matches at 5:00 on Saturday morning.
Coverage of the second day will also start at 21:00 on TNT Sports 3, before coverage of Sunday’s final round of matches gets under way at 20:00 on TNT Sports 4.
