Carlos Alcaraz played his first-ever Laver Cup match on Friday, and while it was a doubles match and a loss, it was still an interesting watch, especially for Roger Federer, who had never seen Alcaraz play before.
Alcaraz signed up to play in the 2024 Laver Cup fairly early in the year. He was the first player announced after a couple of attempts, and the Spaniard finally committed to playing, which excited many, including Federer, who is the co-founder of the tournament.
As the player who conceived the Laver Cup, the Swiss Ace has been present at most of these events, whether as a player in previous years or, like this year, as an ambassador.
He met with all the players, spent some time on the court himself, and soaked in the overall experience. He watched tennis on Friday, including the doubles match that featured Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.
It was a losing effort for Team Europe, but it was still an interesting watch. It was the first time Federer got to see Alcaraz play in person, and that was a cool moment for the young Spaniard as well.
It’s well-known how much Alcaraz respects Federer, having grown up watching him. After the match, the 21-year-old was asked about interacting with the Swiss Maestro before the match and what it meant to him to finally have Federer watch him play in person.
"Well, it was great, honestly, playing in front of him. It's the first time that he watch one of my matches in real life, and I'm really happy that he was there, you know, watching our doubles."
"As I said, he watch doubles match. Well, I think I'm good but I'm not as good as the singles, I guess (smiling). I hope to see him tomorrow in the singles. I hope he enjoyed the doubles match."
"Obviously was great seeing him in the practice. He didn't tell me any tactic, any advice, but I mean, he just told me that he's really happy about watching me in real life, that I'm here. So it was a great time for me that, I mean, I wish that moment for a long time, so it was a really good time."
Federer has been very complimentary of Alcaraz a couple of times in the past, for obvious reasons. The Spaniard might be the most electric player to enter tennis in recent memory.
While there are shades of Federer in the way he approaches the game, Alcaraz remains his own player with a unique skill set, which carried him to four Grand Slam trophies so far in his tennis career.
Although it was a losing effort in doubles, Alcaraz redeemed himself in the singles against Ben Shelton, which was a crucial match for Team Europe.