Roger Federer has named Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz as his preferred duo to represent Team Europe in doubles at the 2023 Laver Cup.
The Swiss legend also discussed how he developed the concept for the Laver Cup with his agent and admitted the event has “completely exceeded expectations.”
The 2023 edition of the Laver Cup is the sixth instalment of the exhibition team competition where two teams featuring players from Europe and the rest of the world face off. The indoor hard-court contest was established in 2017, with Team Europe holding a 4-1 edge from the five previous clashes.
This year’s competition will be held at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada from 22-24 September. Team World are the current champions, having prevailed 13-8 at the O2 Arena in London in 2022.
Team Europe’s squad consists of Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Arthur Fils and Gael Monfils.
Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton and Francisco Cerundolo make up Team World’s side.
Federer represented Team Europe in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 and brought an end to his incredible 24-year career after last year’s edition.
Speaking at Rogers Arena ahead of the latest edition of his event, Federer expressed his excitement for the doubles matches and also revealed he may captain Team Europe in the future.
“I’m very happy and pumped up to be here. It’s going to be short and sweet, three full days, action-packed,” declared the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“I get very excited about Laver Cup doubles, because there are usually teams that we haven’t seen in the past so I would like to maybe see Hurkacz and Rublev play together. On the World side, there’s tons of doubles teams with Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz. I just like superstar combinations.
“There’s something in me that’s Team Europe. I’m happy if World wins, don’t get me wrong — but somehow, I can feel it deep inside, I want Europe to win. I like being in the tennis sphere. Maybe one day, I’ll be the Captain of the team. There’s no plans as of now, but I think that could be quite nice.”
The Swiss also spoke of how he and his agent Tony Godsick came up with the idea for the Laver Cup during the Shanghai Masters years ago.
“We started discussing how I think it would be great to have the best players get together and also have a place where the former greats can reunite and have a role to play,” said the 42-year-old.
“For me, it’s personally completely exceeded expectations. I never thought I was going to play in Geneva, [and] obviously also a little bit nostalgic for me to retire at The O2, where I did play a lot of my matches,” Federer said, fondly recalling the 2019 and 2022 tournaments.
Tennis legends Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, who formed an iconic rivalry during their careers, are the captains of Team Europe and Team World respectively.
