Novak Djokovic may have hinted at Roger Federer reunion with comments at Laver Cup
NOVAK DJOKOVIC is playing the Laver Cup for just the second time..
Novak Djokovic has hinted that he would be up for playing more Laver Cups in the future, giving way for a reunion with Roger Federer. The Serb went undefeated on Saturday as he won back-to-back matches, beating Frances Tiafoe in the singles before he and Matteo Berrettini won in the doubles. And Djokovic admitted he wanted to team up with the Italian again.
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Djokovic is playing just his second Laver Cup this weekend in London, as the fifth edition of the tournament saw Federer end his 24-year career in an emotional doubles match alongside Rafael Nadal on Friday night. The world No 7 played his part for Team Europe on Saturday night, winning both his singles and doubles matches to give the squad an 8-4 lead going into the final day.
He teamed up with Berrettini for the first time as the two singles players produced a sublime performance to down Team World’s Jack Sock and Alex De Minaur and Djokovic is now eager to join forces with the Italian again, meaning a future Laver Cup appearance that would see him reunited with Federer. As the co-creator of the tournament, the 41-year-old is expected to return each year even though he won’t be playing.
It means that his colleagues will only have a guaranteed chance of seeing the newly-retired Swiss star if they play the team tournament in the future, and it appears that one of his biggest rivals is keen to be back at the Laver Cup. “We never played together, you know,” Djokovic said of Berrettini after their 7-5 6-2 win.
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“But the way we played on the court, seemed like we played many, many times before. Hopefully he's going to give me this pleasure to play with him again.” The 21-time Grand Slam champion is not expected to exhaust himself at big tournaments by playing doubles as well as singles, so his only chance will be at the Laver Cup.
As well as indicating his hope of playing alongside his Europe teammate again, the 35-year-old was full of praise for the Laver Cup and explained why he loved the tournament’s unique atmosphere. Speaking about the three-day team event, Djokovic said: “First of all, the atmosphere is completely different in the locker room than what we experience normally on the tour, because we are teammates, we are not rivals for the only time probably.”
The Serb explained that the locker rooms were strictly reserved for members of Team Europe only, adding: “I like that. I like that a lot, because it allows us to interact with each other, to get to know each other better, because when we have our team members in the locker room and on the tour, then you spend more time with them. You know, it's more comfortable and maybe you don't interact with others as much.
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“As for the Laver Cup, I think Laver Cup is doing great, honestly. I mean, each year, you know, the experience for the players is better and better.” Djokovic previously played the 2018 Laver Cup in Chicago alongside Federer but said he was enjoying this year even more, in part due to the 103-time title winner’s emotional retirement.
But even without the historic end to Federer’s career, Djokovic believed the Laver Cup would still be as exciting. He explained: “Just because the concept of the Laver Cup is so unique that regardless of whether Roger is retiring or not, to your question, I think this competition will live and creates very beautiful memories for players that players take with them on the tour, and they talk about these experiences and memories with each other.”
