"We tried to bring him to the Laver Cup" - Federer admits he lobbied Alcaraz to take part in 2022 edition
ATP
Roger Federer recently admitted that the Laver Cup organizers tried to convince Carlos Alcaraz to compete at the event in 2022.
In 2022, the Laver Cup celebrated already its fifth edition. Over the years, it became the most popular exhibition event on the ATP Tour, and this year, it was a great success again.
The part of the event's success was related to Federer's retirement from tennis, which happened at the event. The Swiss Maestro teamed up with Rafael Nadal and retired in a doubles match.
Team Europe's line-up was star-studded. All of the Big Four members (Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray) participated in the tournament. They were joined by Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Matteo Berrettini and Cameron Norrie joined as substitutes.
Alcaraz didn't participate in the event. On September 11th, he was busy lifting the trophy at the US Open, and less than a week later, he already competed at the Davis Cup, representing Spain.
However, he chose not to play for Bjorn Borg's Team Europe at the Laver Cup, which ran from September 23rd until 25th. Team World won their maiden trophy, beating Team Europe 13-8.
Maybe Alcaraz could have been the man who would help Team Europe to keep their winning streak, and it seems that he was even approached to compete at the event.
Federer, who is one of the co-founders, recently said, as per Luigi Gatto, that the tournament organizers attempted to get Alcaraz to sign up, but they didn't succeed.
"We tried to bring Alcaraz to the Laver Cup this year, but he said: 'Look, it could be a little too much.' Hopefully, he will play next year."
The hope for the Laver Cup organizers will be to get Alcaraz for the sixth edition of the competition. After being played in London in 2022, the tournament will move to Team World's ground in 2023.
