Federer arrives in Vancouver, “really happy to be back” at Laver Cup

There isn’t quite as much star power on the court as we have become accustomed to at the Laver Cup, but there will most definitely be some legends in the stands.

Joining Rod Laver, of course, at this year’s festivities in Vancouver will be Roger Federer. The 42-year-old, whose management company helped create the Laver Cup, retired from tennis at this event last fall in London. He is back in a spectator role this time around, having arrived in Vancouver earlier this week.

Federer is looking forward to a fun three days of competition between Team Europe and Team World.

“I always get very excited about Laver Cup doubles teams because they’re usually always teams that we haven’t seen in the past,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion commented. “I’d like to maybe see (Hubert) Hurkacz and (Andrey) Rublev play together. On the World side, I think there [are] tons of doubles teams there. Ben Shelton, I see him playing quite a few; also Frances (Tiafoe) I can see him playing some. Maybe also Taylor Fritz; I’d like to see how he plays doubles.

“I just like superstar combinations; I think that’s always very exciting.”

This will be Federer’s second appearance on tour this year. He previously attended Wimbledon, where he was a guest of honor in the Royal Box.

“It’s good fun,” the Swiss assured. “I was at Wimbledon this year, also sat in the stands and it felt great. I was really happy seeing tennis. I still follow results. I can’t sit through full matches just because I’ve got too much going on or it’s a bad time zone, but I sometimes check out the highlights and being live in the stadium honestly has a different feeling. Tennis is a great live sport, so I’m really happy to be back here in Vancouver and seeing some live tennis again.”

Team Europe consists of Rublev, Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Gael Monfils, and Arthur Fils. Team World’s roster is Fritz, Tiafoe, Shelton, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Francisco Cerundolo.

Rublev is the highest-ranked participant at No. 6 in the world.