Laver Cup Press Release, August 15, 2023
Twenty-time Grand Slam singles champion and one of the greatest athletes in the history of sport, Roger Federer will be celebrated at this year’s Laver Cup, to be held at Rogers Arena in Vancouver from September 22-24, 2023. Federer, co-founder of the event, will be in Vancouver for the duration of the Laver Cup and will be invited onto the black court during the evening session on Friday, September 22 to mark the one-year anniversary of his last competitive match. Few can forget the fairy-tale ending to his illustrious career at London’s O2 Arena last September, when he teamed up on the opening night with long-time rival and close friend Rafael Nadal in front of a capacity crowd for doubles against Team World’s Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. Federer and Nadal lost the closely fought battle, but it was the emotion fueled aftermath that has been etched into the memories of sports fans across the globe as Federer, his teammates and family broke down in tears as pop star Ellie Goulding serenaded him into retirement. This year in Vancouver, Federer will flip the coin for the last match on Friday evening and then return to the court afterwards for an interview with former World No.1 Jim Courier, who was the first person to interview Federer after his final match in London last year. All fans attending Friday’s evening session will have the chance to submit questions for Courier to ask Federer on court. Plus, two lucky fans at each session will be randomly selected to sit courtside and meet Federer. Named in honor of Australian tennis legend Rod Laver, winner of the calendar-year Grand Slam in 1962 and 1969, the Laver Cup is played on a dramatic black court that will be constructed within Rogers Arena. The three-day competition sees rivals become teammates as six of the top men’s tennis players from Europe face off against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world. Europe are four-time Laver Cup champions winning at Prague in 2017, Chicago 2018, Geneva 2019 and Boston 2021. However, Team World are the defending champions in Vancouver, having pulled off a stunning maiden victory in London, in one of the most talked-about events in world sport. The Vancouver edition promises to be equally competitive, with Team World Captain John McEnroe having announced three players on his six-man team so far – World No.9 Taylor Fritz, No.10 Frances Tiafoe, and No.14 Felix Auger-Aliassime. Team Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg, includes World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 5 Holger Rune, No.7 Casper Ruud, and No.8 Andrey Rublev with further players to be announced in upcoming weeks. Multi-session ticket packages and single-session tickets for Laver Cup Vancouver 2023 are on sale via Ticketmaster.
