Alexander Zverev will share the court with Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Laver Cup, but for the first time, they will be on the same side, and the German player called it 'a privilege.'
Zverev and Alcaraz were selected by Team Captain Bjorn Borg to play the first doubles match for Team Europe. They will be in action on Friday, September 20th, in the final match of the day.
Their opponents will be Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, and it should be a great viewing experience for the fans in Berlin who paid for the tickets. It's not something Zverev expected, but as one of the few players on the European side who plays doubles fairly regularly, he was expected to get the nod.
He didn't know he would get a chance to play with Alcaraz, and for him, it's a privilege because Alcaraz has already proven himself to be a legendary player, and the former World No. 2 seemingly agrees with that statement.
The German was very complimentary in his talk about Alcaraz, comparing him to Roger Federer. He played with Federer, and playing with Alcaraz is no less special for him.
"Look, we found out last night during our meeting that we had at dinner, but for me it's a privilege to -- don't listen, because you're 12 years old and I shouldn't say so many nice things -- but it's a privilege to share the court with a legend in our sport already. He's only going to grow from now on."
"I had the privilege to play doubles with Roger a few times, which was very, very special here. So now sharing the court with Carlos is also extremely special for me."
"We had some tough battles at Grand Slams this year together, in Australia and at the French Open, so being on the same side is incredible. I think we're practicing together today. We're probably going to talk some tactics later on and decide from there moving forward."
It's certainly an interesting pairing that could deliver some points for their team. This opening doubles match might not be as important as those coming after, but getting off to a good start will be important for both teams.
When it comes to Alcaraz, his teammate's comments mean a lot to him, and he returned the favor, underlining that with Zverev's serve, he will have an easy job to do on the tennis court.
Overall, he expects the match to go really well, and the crowd should be into it as well, with Zverev being a home player.
"I mean, for me, it's the same as he said. We battled a few times this year, so have the chance to play on same side of the net, it's going to be great, going to be fun. Obviously with his serves and me in the net, it's going to be easy work for me (smiling)."
"But yeah, I mean, as he said, we're gonna talk a little bit later about which side we're gonna play, about the tactics, and I'm pretty sure that the match is going to be well."
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