Carlos Alcaraz admits he will gladly meet up with Roger Federer at the Laver Cup after the tennis great offered to apologise for snubbing him during his junior days.
Sadly for tennis fans, Alcaraz and Federer didn’t meet in an official match on the ATP Tour as their careers didn’t overlap with the Spaniard making his breakthrough in 2021 when the Swiss great was struggling with injury.
Federer eventually retired in 2022, but the 20-time Grand Slam winner admitted ahead of the 2024 edition of the Laver Cup that he met Alcaraz off-court when the Spaniard was still a junior.
“I barely know Carlos Alcaraz so I’m really excited to see him play for the very first time,” the former world No 1 said.
“I only practised 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 apologise to Carlos this week!”
Alcaraz has made no secret of the fact that Federer was one of his idols when he was growing up and he fondly remembers that 2019 warm-up session at Wimbledon.
“I was training today and Roger was in the gym, but I haven’t seen him. I hope to see him in the next few days. I remember Wimbledon training as if it was yesterday. I will never forget it. It was a unique moment,” he told Spanish media.
The 21-year-old added: “I will never forget the first time I met Federer, I have the photo in my room.”
Four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz will make his Laver Cup debut for Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe in Berlin and he will look to impress Federer.
“For me it’s great. I will try to be ready for that time, try to put on a show, to put a good point on the match just to make him enjoy watching the match. But for me, it’s great to hear those words from him,” he said.
“I didn’t meet him yet here and during the tournament, but I would love to see him and talk a little bit with him and yeah, I’ll be ready to make him enjoy the match.”
Team Europe initially dominated the Laver Cup as they won the first four editions, but Team World hit back with victories in 2022 and 2023. John McEnroe’s team claimed an emphatic 13-2 win in Vancouver, Canada, last year.
Alcaraz will be joined by Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas on Team Europe while Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Alejandro Tabilo, Francisco Cerúndolo and Thanasi Kokkinakis make up Team World.
The world No 3 added: “That’s the goal. I’m going to do whatever it takes or whatever I have in my hand to help Team Europe to bring back the trophy and let’s see – it’s going to be a tough one.
“I think we have a really good team that we can bring it back.”
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