Djokovic joins Federer, Nadal, Murray in dream Europe Team for Laver Cup

The Laver Cup could be the first tournament for Djokovic after his Wimbledon triumph and the first for Federer since Wimbledon 2021

Djokovic and Federer at the Laver Cup in 2018

Image Credit: Icon SMI / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

July 22, 2022

The organizers of the Laver Cup seemed to have pulled off a coup, with Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic becoming the latest player to confirm his availability for the 2022 edition which will be held in London’s O2 Arena from September 23 to 25.

Djokovic joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in Team Europe, ensuring that fans will be treated to the Big Four playing in the same team.

Djokovic : “excited”

“I’m really excited to be joining Team Europe again for the Laver Cup at London’s O2 arena in September,” Djokovic said in a statement released by the organizers. “It’s the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you’re normally competing against and to be joining Rafa, Roger and Andy – three of my biggest all-time rivals – it’s going to be a truly unique moment in the history of our sport.”

With Djokovic not being permitted to enter the United States or Canada due to his unvaccinated status, although that could change in the weeks to come, the Laver Cup is his first confirmed tournament appearance since winning his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam title earlier this month.

first tournament on the way back for Federer

The Laver Cup is also expected to be the first tournament on the way back for Federer, who was last seen on the tour at Wimbledon last year, following which he underwent another surgery on his knee.

The four will be aiming to guide Team Europe to their fifth consecutive Laver Cup triumph, having won all four previous editions.

The quartet, more so Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, have dominated men’s tennis over the past two decades. Between them, the four have won 66 of the past 76 Grand Slam singles titles (Nadal – 22, Djokovic – 21, Federer – 20 and Murray – 3), and held the world No 1 ranking for 18 consecutive years from February 2004-February 2022.

While the final two players for Team Europe still need to be announced, Team World need to announce their final three players who will join Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, United States’ Taylor Fritz and Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.