How Roger Federer’s Laver Cup – the Ryder Cup of tennis – makes Carlos Alcaraz smile amid relentless schedule

Carlos Alcaraz will lead team Europe during the Laver Cup in London - (Adam Davy/PA Wire)

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.