BERLIN – If you walk through Berlin these days, you will see many people wearing Roger Federer caps. There are more and more as you approach the Uber Arena near Warschauer-Straße subway station. Here and there, tennis fans are also wearing Rafael Nadal T-shirts.
It’s Laver Cup time in the German capital. Since Friday, six players from Europe have been competing against six players from a world selection in this event construct. The Laver Cup is intended as a tribute to the icons of tennis history. It was created by the maestro himself. Federer and his manager Tony Godsick came up with the idea of organizing “the next big thing” in tennis years ago.
The Laver Cup is being held for the seventh time this year. The sporting value is debatable, but more on that later. Almost more than the tradition, which the still young Laver Cup cannot yet have, it is always about these questions: What does this competition actually want to be? What identity does the Laver Cup have?
In Berlin, you can’t shake off the impression that – even if he hasn’t been on the court for two years – it’s still all about Federer. You can’t get past him here. The small fan zone in front of the Uber Arena consists of exactly five sales tents, which are set up in two rows behind the large public viewing screen. It can be revealed here that these are “RF-only” brands that exhibit and offer items for sale here: Federer’s racket sponsor, Federer’s own shoe company, Federer’s sunglasses company, Federer’s car sponsor and Federer’s clothing sponsor. Even the deckchairs on which people sit outside and watch the matches on the screen inside the arena are branded by “Switzerland Marketing”. It’s one big Federer playground.
But of course, it’s also his competition and people are into it. They buy, buy, buy.
Federer hasn’t played tennis for two years, but he remains the icon of the sport.
This is not so much in the foreground, you can’t get rid of that feeling. It’s more about images. When Federer casually hit a few balls down on the black court the day before the start, the scenes went around the world. The casual style of the Swiss, his elegance, was not only celebrated mercilessly in the tennis bubble. The fact that Grigor Dimitrov won a fantastic tennis match against Alejandro Tabilo in two tight sets on Friday was also of interest to the fans in the hall. But what interested them above all and was shared on social media: the photos of the players in front of the Brandenburg Gate, tennis pros in tuxedos at the gala dinner, Federer in all variations and a bit of a show from Team World captain John McEnroe down at the line.
“People want to see this stuff. Hopefully we’ll get some of that on the Tennis Channel,” Godsick even said himself at a press conference on Friday. Laver Cup is great feel-good cinema, it’s also better than many other tournaments. Last week, the group stage of the Davis Cup took place in Zhuhai, China. The images transmitted from there were oppressive.
Godsick and Federer are full professionals, as is Laver Cup CEO Steve Zacks. All three know about the appeal of their product, they are exploiting it to the full. But it’s not a safe game.
Rafael Nadal, on whom everyone was betting in Berlin until shortly before the start, had to cancel after all. Many fans had also bought tickets for Berlin because they wanted to see the Spaniard play live one last time. There has been speculation for some time that Nadal could end his career in the near future due to recurring injuries.
Two years ago, Federer used the Laver Cup stage for his farewell. The pictures of the crying tennis legends Federer and Nadal holding hands on the players’ bench have gone down in tennis history. But history did not repeat itself in Berlin. Which was a great disappointment for the fans. And which also proves it: the Laver Cup depends on faces. But when they are gone, there is still black bread.
In other words: Ruud against Cerundolo or Kokkinakis against Tsitsipas.
From a purely sporting point of view, it will remain an exhibition event. CLAY asked Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday evening after his victory over Kokkinakis about the importance of the Laver Cup and whether the abundance of tournaments and team competitions might not be enough.
Tsitsipas answers in a very politically correct way: “For me, Laver Cup, it’s that honorary tournament that you get to play that you’re just proud of being selected to be part of the roster and the team. It stretches way more than just points, because you’re chasing points entire year, and this is a week that you’re dedicating yourself into playing your best tennis because obviously it’s an honor just to be part of the team already, and you just want to maximize as much as you can,” he said.
The Greek did not stop there: “I actually feel bigger excitement for a competition like Laver Cup probably than some other tournaments during the year. It brings the best out of me, and I have always felt like I connect with the concept really well, and I try and enjoy and learn from that week as much as possible, because it teaches me so much throughout my career.”
Björn Borg , the Team Europe captain, sat next to Tsitsipas. He also rejected the exhibition character mentioned and wanted nothing to do with it: “We hate to lose to the rest of the world. Maybe you don’t see that, but I think you can see that if you understand that kind of a thing.“
Tsitsipas and Borg both laughed a little. It almost sounded as if they had agreed on it beforehand. Borg, like McEnroe, will will no longer be taking part in the Laver Cup next year. More faces and icons of this competition are leaving the ship. Nadal will probably never play for Team Europe again.
Novak Djokovic has never liked the Laver Cup, and he will not be taking part in Berlin again, although he would have been there by virtue of his ranking. So the others like Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner have to sort it out and try to breathe a bit of tradition into the event in the future. If necessary, the eternal Federer will have to sort it out. As a star who hovers above everything.
