Roger Federer makes surprise Laver Cup appearance following third knee surgery

Laver Cup: Nadal gives Roger Federer advice during Isner clash

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Roger Federer has made a surprise appearance in Boston as the fourth edition of the Laver Cup gets underway. The 20-time Grand Slam champion announced last month that he was undergoing a third knee surgery which would leave him out of the game for “many months”, and subsequently pulled out of the Team Europe vs Team World event that he helped create.

After the Swiss star said he would be sad to miss the event for the first time this year, he has now shocked everyone by arriving at the TD Garden to watch the tournament over the weekend.

The world No 9 created the team exhibition event with his TEAM8 management company, looking to honour tennis legend Rod Laver with a Ryder Cup-style tournament pitting Team Europe vs Team World against one another over three days to see who comes out on top.

The 2020 edition, set to be held in Boston, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though the 40-year-old had already ended his season last year after needing two surgeries on his troublesome right knee.

After confirming his participation for 2021, Federer then revealed he had suffered a “setback” with his injury during the grass court season, and last month took to Instagram to announce he was having a third surgery, withdrawing from the US Open and the Laver Cup.

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Ahead of the tournament, Federer had admitted he was “disappointed” not to be in Boston for the Laver Cup.

“I’m going to miss the guys, I’m going to miss the team, the spirit, the fans, the weekend, just everything that goes with it – cheering on my fellow players,” he said, during a pre-tournament interview with Mercedes-Benz.

“I’m going to miss it because I had a wonderful time in Geneva, Prague and Chicago, but have already been in touch with Thomas Enqvist, the coach of Team Europe and I will also definitely call Bjorn and John and make sure everything is ok and obviously I’ll be in touch with the team and I‘ll be watching a lot of the matches.

“It’s going to be long tennis days in front of the TV, so I’m really excited that it’s Laver Cup time again.”

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However, the former world No 1 now won’t need to miss out, as he has surprised everyone by arriving at the TD Garden, this year’s host venue, where he is set to cheer on Team Europe from the players’ boxes courtside.

“Hello Boston!!! @LaverCup,” he wrote on Twitter and his Instagram story, sharing a selfie from inside the stadium as he posed next to the trophy.

Though Federer won’t be playing this year, he still has high hopes for Team Europe, who have won the previous three editions of the tournament in Prague, Chicago and Geneva.

During his Mercedes-Benz interview, he added: “I think Team Europe will be again the favourites and I think having Sascha Zverev as Olympic Champion and Daniil Medvedev as the US Open Champion on the team it’s going to be really good for us, especially for the singles.

“I think doubles indoors – anything is possible to be honest. I think it’s going to be close in the doubles. In the singles we have slide edge but they have a lot of young players on Team World, so I think a lot will be possible for them but it’s amazing how strong Team Europe has become over the years, also smaller nations being really dominant.”

Team World contains the likes of Nick Kyrgios, young Canadian duo Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, tall, big-serving Americans John Isner and Reilly Opelka, and Diego Schwartzman.

As well as Federer, it is also the first year that neither Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic are also playing the Laver Cup, and the 40-year-old noted that someone would need to step up and lead Team Europe in their absence.

“But you know no Rafa, no Novak, no me on the team, so I think they will need a new leader or Bjorn Borg is obviously just going to take over as the captain, the super captain, the king. I really hope that Team Europe of course is going to win again,” he said.
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