Andy Roddick Praises Roger Federer for Connecting Generations Through Laver Cup: “A Really Classy Touch”

The ninth edition of the Laver Cup will kick off on September 25. Team World, led by Andre Agassi, features Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien, Brandon Nakashima, Alexander Bublik, Francisco Cerundolo, and Ignacio Buse.

Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Jodar, Jakub Mensik, Casper Ruud, and Arthur Fery will be playing under Team Europe captain Yannick Noah. On Day 1, Ruud will face Cerundolo, Mensik will square off against Nakashima, and Jodar will play Bublik. In doubles, Alcaraz and Mensik will face Bublik and Fritz.

The man who co-created this event in 2017, Roger Federer, has already arrived in London, where the tournament will be held at the O2 Arena. His old rival Andy Roddick, speaking to a live audience outside the O2 Arena, heaped praise on the 20-time Grand Slam champion for connecting generations through this team event.

So for Roger to kind of look and say, ‘Listen, what do I want to do? What is part of my legacy? Can we leave tennis with an event that celebrates not only our captains? Right? So bring in [John] McEnroe and [Bjorn] Borg, and we’re gonna connect generations, and we’re gonna kind of pass all that information down, but also honour one of the biggest icons in our sport with Mr. [Rod] Laver.’

Andy Roddick said on his Served podcast live

From its inception in 2017 until 2024, McEnroe and Borg led the two teams. In 2025, Agassi and Noah became the two new captains.

I thought it was a really classy touch for Roger to do. And it’s nice to see, you know, that this has travelled around to some of the best cities in the world and is right back here in London.

Andy Roddick added

In this tournament in 2022, the Swiss maestro played his career’s last match. Federer and Rafael Nadal teamed up for doubles and lost to the pair of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

Roger Federer offers longevity advice to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner is not in London for the Laver Cup. He is recovering from a knee injury and was scheduled to play the ATP 500 China Open, but he withdrew.

For Alcaraz, the Laver Cup is his second tournament since he recovered from the wrist injury he suffered at the Barcelona Open. He made his comeback at the US Open, where eventual runner-up Ben Shelton defeated him in the quarterfinals. Amid their injury-hit season, they received a piece of longevity advice from Roger Federer.

In 2013, I didn’t win a title; [in] 2016, I didn’t win a title because of injuries. And we talk about… I was always there, I was always there, but you have your ups and downs. You’re fighting with some sort of an issue, and they had it maybe a little bit this year, but still they won both Slams. […] When I look at the long runway, how do I keep longevity going, what are my goals, then you work back from that, and I think that helped me a lot.

Roger Federer told Sky Sports

Both Alcaraz and Sinner won one Grand Slam title each this season. The Spaniard lifted the Australian Open by defeating Novak Djokovic, while the Italian ace went past Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final.

Zverev will be ending the season with more Majors as he defeated Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final and Shelton in the US Open final. Since 2024, Alcaraz and Sinner have won 10 Grand Slam titles combined.

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