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This was Roger Federer as you’ve never seen him before. “I want a fist-pump or a ‘let’s go’ every f***ing point you win and every point you lose, f***ing take it,” Federer barks at Alexander Zverev backstage, ahead of a match tie-break against Milos Raonic at the 2019 Laver Cup. For a man of such elegance, it was a brilliant peek into Federer’s ferociously competitive mind.
If that wasn’t enough for the then-young German to digest, on the other side was Rafael Nadal, who interjected: “Not one negative face now.” Federer added: “I don’t want to see anyone who’s like ‘ah knew it, ah f*** s***’” before the camera and microphone sadly cut away. It may not be surprising to note that Zverev won the breaker, 10-4.
It is this team ethic, this level of tight-knit camaraderie and authentic advice, which makes the Laver Cup a refreshing outlier in the tennis calendar. Two years earlier, at the inaugural event in Prague, Zverev was again on the receiving end of some advice from Federer, this time of a tactical nature. “What are we thinking?” Federer said, strolling to the bench, before proceeding to give his own detailed answer on Zverev’s return position and movement up the court. Bjorn Borg, captain of Team Europe at the time, simply nodded along. Go view the videos on YouTube; they’re an intriguing watch.
It is in Federer’s interests to ramp up interest in clippable off-beat videos and striking soundbites of encouragement. Alongside agent Tony Godsick, he is the brainchild of tennis’ Ryder Cup-style event, taking place for the second time in London this weekend, four years on from the Swiss legend’s emotional final farewell from the game at The O2. It pits six European players against six players from the rest of the world, in three days of singles and doubles competition increasing in significance as the weekend progresses: one point per match on day one, two points on day two, three points on day three. At a minimum, it ensures the competition stretches to the final day. The winner is the first team to 13 points.
And even after the retirements of Federer and Nadal – two legends of the game who threw their full weight behind the unique format – the overall standard of player is exceptionally high. All 12 players this week are ranked inside the world’s top-22 and while, on paper, Europe have been favourites in virtually every single edition, Team World have won three of the last four, including last year in San Francisco which pitted two new captains against each other, as Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi replaced Borg and John McEnroe respectively.
But why, amid a gruelling 11-month schedule and full-on summer swing from March to September, do the majority of top players commit? Carlos Alcaraz, for instance, is making just his second tournament appearance in five months following the wrist injury which forced him to miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
For sure, appearance fees play a role, as do a guaranteed $250,000 (£190,000) for each team-winning member. But it’s deeper than that. “We are not used to playing team events and for me, I love team events,” Alcaraz said. “You can see in previous years how much fun I have on and off the court. Yeah, it’s a week I could be training or resting, but these kinds of weeks help me a lot to bring my joy back onto the court.
“That helps me a lot for the next tournament, which isn’t a team event, so I make the most of this week, get to know the players off the court… having joy when you’re playing tennis, that’s what this competition brings for me.”
It is a sentiment widely shared: the formation of a team-led environment, in a traditionally lonely sport, which brings out the best in players. Team World’s highest-ranked member, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, is impressively undefeated in Laver Cup singles matches. The eccentricities of Kazakh player Alexander Bublik, a debutant this year, will be a draw this weekend. Bublik even acknowledged his role as “trash-talker” on Thursday. And Zverev, nearly a decade on from those legendary words of wisdom from Federer, features as Europe’s leading man after a breakthrough year with two Grand Slam titles to his name.
The two skippers also present a juxtaposition of ways: French icon Noah will be perhaps the coolest person in east London throughout the weekend while eight-time major winner Agassi, forever a competitor, made no secret of his deep desire to triumph again. “Chats with Andre over the last seven months have got very explosive and full on,” said Team World’s vice-captain Pat Rafter. “How much this guy thinks about it… these players have to understand that this is a big thing.
“It doesn’t have to be a big thing for Andre… but it is. They play and they buy in. If we don’t get that then the event doesn’t work. It’s great how they feel about it.”
In star names, format and the ubiquity of sideline coaching and call to arms, there is no doubt that the Laver Cup has a unique offering. Comparisons to golf’s Ryder Cup, steeped in 100 years of history, are inevitable, even if Godsick once remarked on the comparison: “We’ll never get rid of that gap.” And that’s fine, despite the Laver Cup’s official website literally describing the event as “inspired by golf’s Ryder Cup.”
In a world of individual-sport similarity, there are key differences: the history, the purely American influence, the biennial factor, the fan boisterousness. And more than anything, the sense that this thing really matters. For most golfers, the Ryder Cup is the highlight of a lifetime; for tennis players, the Laver Cup still has that overarching fervour of an exhibition.
Don’t say that to Agassi, though. “I don’t like his chipped forehand return,” said the American when asked about Bublik’s game. “I got s*** for it!” said the Kazakh, laughing. Agassi, always a deep thinker of the game, added about his involvement this week: “It kind of makes me realise how much intensity I lived with in my own head when I played, because emotions were my nemesis on a tennis court.
“I had to keep my s*** under control. Sitting on the side with all these Ferraris, not having to keep my s*** under control and they still perform… I recognise that it matters to me a lot and they matter to me a lot.”
