Alcaraz Reunites with Federer

When Carlos Alcaraz was just one of the most promising juniors in the world, he had the chance to train with Roger Federer. It happened at Wimbledon 2019 when Juan Carlos Ferrero, a contemporary of the Swiss, offered to train with his pupil.

Federer, who needed to warm up before his quarterfinal match against Kei Nishikori, accepted the Valencian's request and trained on one of the outer courts of the All England Club, open to the public, alongside 16-year-old Alcaraz.

From that training session emerged a photo showing a smiling Federer and Alcaraz with the Wimbledon grass in the background. It is the only snapshot these two tennis geniuses have together, despite Federer's annual visits to the All England Club.

The Swiss coincided with Alcaraz in the 2021 edition, the last in which he competed, but they were on very different levels. While the Spaniard was satisfied with reaching the second round, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev, the Swiss reached the quarterfinals despite playing with his injured knee and was swept by Hubert Hurkacz.

In 2022, when Alcaraz reached the fourth round, Federer did not compete, months before his retirement. Since 2023, they have always coincided in different roles: Alcaraz as a title contender and Federer as a spectator.

However, the 20-time Grand Slam champion has never seen Alcaraz on court. In 2023, Federer attended the royal box on Centre Court where he watched matches involving Andy Murray and Elena Rybakina while Alcaraz played on Court 1, the second most important court, against Jeremy Chardy. «I was envious that he didn't watch me,» said Alcaraz after defeating the Frenchman on his way to his first Wimbledon.

Alcaraz's admiration for Federer dates back to his childhood, as evidenced by his fluid and aggressive strokes similar to those of the Swiss and his creativity fostered by his coaches. The famous photo with Federer five years ago was framed and placed in his room in El Palmar.

This year seemed perfect for Federer to finally watch an Alcaraz match, especially since the Swiss appeared twice at Wimbledon. On his first visit, he attended the match between Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini on Centre Court; on his second visit, he was on Court 1 watching Ben Shelton, one of the players sponsored by his clothing brand ON.

Again, it seemed like Federer was avoiding Alcaraz. The difference this year is that there is an unmissable event on the calendar: the Laver Cup, organized by Federer's management agency where Alcaraz will debut this Friday.

The Swiss and Spaniard will finally recreate their famous photo from five years ago in Berlin. It didn't happen this Wednesday during the photo shoot with European team players and captains and those from the rest of the world but will occur this Thursday at a pre-tournament party known for moments like last year's 'Big Four' photo in London.

The tournament itself is an exhibition with significant prize money at stake where Team Europe will aim to reclaim their crown after two years of defeats against Team World.

Led by Bjorn Borg in his final edition as Europe's captain, Alcaraz will be joined by Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Flavio Cobolli, Jan-Lennard Struff and Grigor Dimitrov. Meanwhile, John McEnroe's team includes Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Alejandro Tabilo, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Francisco Cerúndolo and Ben Shelton.

Alcaraz will debut in doubles this Friday in the fourth match of the day partnering with Zverev against Fritz and Shelton. His first singles match will be on Saturday against an opponent yet to be determined. The format awards one point for matches won on Friday, two points for matches won on Saturday and three points for matches won on Sunday.