Roger Federer was quizzed on whether the Laver Cup could follow the ATP and WTA and begin to host events in Saudi Arabia.
The Laver Cup gets underway on Friday in Berlin, with Europe’s Casper Ruud set to take on Team World’s Francisco Cerundolo.
A showdown doubles match with three of the four highest ranked players seed Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz pair up against big serving duo Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
Off the back of two successful outings for Team World in Vancouver and London, a stunning 13-2 win from 2023 has prompted a far stronger European contingent to come together.
Currently alternating between hosting in Europe and North America, Roger Federer, the tournament’s founder, has been quizzed on how the event might look to expand and develop globally.
Roger Federer confirms whether the Laver Cup is weighing up a move to the Middle East
Federer notably retired at the Laver Cup in 2022, departing with a tear alongside Rafael Nadal in a doubles match – something his opponent on the day Frances Tiafoe considers a career highlight.
Back in America for 2025, Federer responded to queries over the event potentially ever deviating from its current alternating system.
“We are going to San Francisco next year. And then after that we go to Europe,” the 43-year-old confirmed.
“After that I think we have to go Asia and South America. We have to keep on moving and bring it to other places, not just Northern America.”
As question marks over a potential Saudi Arabia bid remain an ever-increasing presence in tennis, Federer said: “Then the Middle East potentially as well, I mean everything is open and no particular discussions are taking place.”
Saudi Arabia will increasingly stage more ATP and WTA events
Saudi Arabia’s tennis takeover has experienced a mixed reception. However, with few Arab players on the tour, its ambition of developing a lesser-played sport to the Middle East forms their general reasoning behind the repeated approaches.
Set to host the WTA Finals this year, Garbine Muguruza reacted excitedly to Iga Swiatek’s confirmation that she would be attending the event she won last year.
With the ‘NextGen’ ATP finals also two years into its Saudi partnership until 2027, the Middle East will only continue its bid for more tournaments.
Able to offer large amounts of money, Saudi Arabia is already hosting the ‘Six Kings’ event this year – a tennis exhibition event happening later this year and will feature six of the biggest names in the sport including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Headliners also include Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who are both set to take home several million dollars just for appearing.
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