Roger Federer and Carlos Alcaraz did not get the chance to play each other in the short period that they both played on the ATP Tour at the same time.
Federer retired at the 2022 Laver Cup, at the same event that he co-founded five years prior.
This was after not competing since Wimbledon 2021, where Federer lost to Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion played his final match alongside rival Rafael Nadal, who also retired last year at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
What Roger Federer said about Carlos Alcaraz at the 2022 Laver Cup
Just weeks prior to Federer’s final ever event as a professional tennis player, Alcaraz won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open to become world number one.
With Federer preparing to say farewell to the sport, he spoke in his pre-event press conference about how impressed he had been by Alcaraz’s success at such a young age.
The Swiss also referenced legendary players including Nadal and Pete Sampras, when speaking about the breakthrough of the next generation.
“Yes, of course, it’s disappointing I was never able to play against him,” admitted Federer. “Of course I watched him closely what he did at the US Open and throughout the year. It’s been fantastic, and I always said there will be always new superstars in the game, and he’s one of them. The game is bright.
“I know sometimes people don’t tend to see that or think that. It was the same thing when Pete and Andre [Agassi] left. They thought, well, what do we have here now?
“Guys who win Slams, there is never the same winner. Well, they got the same winners for a lot of years. It was Novak [Djokovic], Rafa, myself, [Andy] Murray and Stan [Wawrinka]. It was nice to see, because that’s what I always thought.”
Roger Federer requested practise with Juan Carlos Ferrero over Carlos Alcaraz
Although they were never able to play a competitive match against one another, Federer and Alcaraz did have a brief practise together ahead of the 2019 Wimbledon quarter-finals.
When looking back on this practise, Federer revealed that he later chose to hit with Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero instead of him.
“I have a funny anecdote with Carlos, because I practiced with him at Wimbledon one year when he was playing the juniors,”continued Federer. “I thought he played well. You know, it was good practice, whatever, just another warm up, I think it was. And Juan Carlos [Ferrero] was there. I was more excited to see him obviously because he’s my guy.
“Then the next day, two days later or next day, on my day off, very often when you practice with somebody, you practice again because you just have, and if the practice was good it’s just simple to call again and say, Do you want to do it again?
“But I said, I want to hit with Juan Carlos, not with Carlos, just because I would like to practice with him and I’m super laid back in practice, anyway.
“I ended up playing with Ferrero. It was great. He didn’t miss a ball. He could still be on tour. I’m really happy for him also in particular that they are being this successful.”
Despite being turned down second time round, it appears that this experience was memorable for a then 16-year-old Alcaraz who posted to social media about his dreams coming true.
“A dream come true, it has been a pride to be able to warm up in #wimbledon with the best player in the history of grass tennis. Thank you very much @rogerfederer,” Alcaraz said on Instagram.
Their second practise did end up happening, with Alcaraz and Federer hitting at the Shanghai Masters last year.
Alcaraz also made his Laver Cup debut in 2024, helping Team Europe regain the title in Berlin after two successive losses.
This included the Spaniard getting the decisive singles victory, as Alcaraz broke a Federer Laver Cup record.
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