Nine editions into its existence, the Laver Cup still has some pretty big cards left to play.
The biggest is obvious: Roger Federer as captain.
The Swiss maestro helped create the event, produced its most unforgettable moment when he retired alongside Rafael Nadal in London in 2022, and remains closely involved behind the scenes. At some point, putting him in the captain’s chair would give the competition another jolt of star power — particularly if the Laver Cup could eventually entice Nadal, or another member of the Big Three, to join him.
That day is not imminent, however.
Laver Cup chairman Tony Godsick addressed Federer’s potential captaincy on Friday in London, saying that while the 20-time major champion remains critical to the event, even the 44-year-old father of four himself isn’t quite sure when he’ll be ready to take the job.
“So Roger one day is ready to be captain. The next day he says, I can’t be a captain for ten years,” Godsick joked. “He’s got four kids and a lot going on.
“What I can tell you is one day he will be captain, for sure – I hope. I mean, nothing is for certain.”
Federer may not have the official gig yet, but he’ll be well-versed when the time comes.
“He could be ready tomorrow to be captain, for sure,” Godsick said. “I’d love to see him be a captain at some point.”
The timing hardly feels urgent. Laver Cup is only in the second year of its new captaincy era, and Andre Agassi has injected considerable life and energy into the event. The American’s thoughtful commentary and his passion for mentoring the members of his team has lifted the event in the eyes of fans and potential players.
1983 Roland Garros champion Yannick Noah, meanwhile, remains one of the coolest and most charismatic figures the sport has produced, and has brought his own personality to Team Europe.
That gives Laver Cup the luxury of waiting for Federer rather than rushing him into the role.
And when it eventually happens, there will most certainly be a new level of enthusiasm surrounding the event.
Still Waiting for South America and Africa
There is another card Laver Cup has yet to play: taking the event into some of tennis’ most underserved major markets. With the event leaning on London’s 02 Arena for a second time, and all four of Team World’s home events taking place in North America, it’s fair to wonder, what about the rest of the world?
When the competition was conceived, Federer and its organizers talked about bringing the Laver Cup around the world. Yet after nine editions, the event has remained heavily concentrated in Europe and North America, with South America, Africa and Asia still waiting for their turn.
Godsick says that’s not for lack of interest.
“Sure, we’d love to bring this to Africa, would love to bring it to South America,” he said. “We’ve got to find an indoor arena that can actually handle us for a period of time that has all the specifications.”
Money is at the heart of the equation, it seems. As Laver Cup has grown, so have the demands. Godsick said organizers didn’t fully understand the arena requirements when the event was launched. Now there are seating requirements, lighting and production specifications, scheduling concerns and, importantly, the wishes of an increasingly large group of commercial partners.
“We have 25 sponsors now, so we have a lot of voices telling us where they would like us to go and when they would like us to go,” Godsick said.
Godsick described visiting potential markets where one arena was too small and another too large, and said even seemingly solvable production problems can quickly become prohibitively expensive.
“I don’t mind investing in the event, I don’t mind losing money,” he said, “but it becomes so cost-prohibitive that at some point you say to yourself, Well, you know, it doesn’t work at the moment.”
There’s still hope for a more remote venue in the years to come, though 2027 is already locked and loaded for Los Angeles.
“We hope to be able to go visit other markets at some point,” he said, “but it’s not as easy as we thought when we conceptualized it.”
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