Roger Federer will be made to wait before he can take on a new role in his retirement. The 42-year-old was back at the Laver Cup over the weekend, this time as a spectator. And he shared his wish to be the captain of Team Europe one day. But current leader Bjorn Borg has confirmed that he will be back next year, meaning Federer won’t be able to take on the job just yet.
Federer co-founded the Laver Cup with his agent Tony Godsick with the inaugural edition being staged in 2017. The Swiss star has since played for Team Europe on four different occasions, including last year when he officially retired from tennis at the tournament.
While he was back in a neutral position this year, the 20-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he was still Team Europe at heart and would even take up the role of captaining the squad in the future. But he will be made to wait, as Borg isn’t giving up the role just yet.
The tennis legend confirmed that he would be captaining the squad when the Laver Cup returned to European soil in 12 months’ time after Europe suffered a one-sided defeat to Team World. “Regarding, yeah, I’ll be in Berlin next year. Yes,” Borg said.
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It comes after the Swede said he would give it one more year during the 2022 Laver Cup in London, refusing to make any statements beyond the Vancouver edition of the tournament. Speaking last year, he said: “I’m very happy to do one more, yeah, like John [McEnroe], too, to spend with these great players.”
But it looks like Borg won’t be letting go of the reigns any time soon, and he will likely have extra motivation to stay on as the captain so he can help Europe reclaim the trophy. Team Europe won the first four editions of the Laver Cup but suffered defeat in 2022 and 2023, with his side winning just one match over the entire weekend this year.
It’s bad news for Federer, who is considering captaining the team one day after admitting that his heart would always be with Europe. “There’s something in me that’s Team Europe,” he said ahead of this year’s tournament.
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“I’m happy if World wins, don’t get me wrong, but somehow I can feel it deep inside, I want Europe to win. I like being in the tennis sphere. Maybe one day I’ll be the captain of the team. There’s no plans as of now, but I think that could be quite nice.”
It’s already evident that Federer still considers himself a part of Team Europe, as he told Eurosport that he was “biased” towards the squad following their defeat on Sunday. The 42-year-old also referred to the team in the first person.
“I think we’re going to have a much better team as Team Europe to be honest. I think the energy is going to come back to our side and hopefully Team Europe can win again. I’m biased,” he laughed.
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