Roger Federer should have invited multiple Grand Slam winner to the Laver Cup instead of Jakub Mensik

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The 2025 Laver Cup is about to begin, but the anticipation doesn’t seem as high as it was in previous years.

Since Roger Federer dreamt up the idea of the Laver Cup, some of the biggest names in tennis have appeared at the event.

Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, and Carlos Alcaraz have all participated in the Laver Cup over the last eight years.

World number one Alcaraz will return this year, but he will do so alongside a group of younger, lower-profile players.

The likes of Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli on Team Europe, and Alex Michelsen and Francisco Cerundolo on Team World, don’t quite have the star appeal of some of the aforementioned names.

With that in mind, Federer may have missed a trick by not inviting a three-time Grand Slam winner and future Hall of Famer to compete at the Laver Cup in 2025.

Why Roger Federer should have invited Stan Wawrinka to play the Laver Cup

Of the 12 players competing at this year’s Laver Cup, only one has won a Grand Slam title.

Instead of inviting Cobolli or Mensik, players who have yet to reach the semis of a Grand Slam, Federer could have brought in his countryman and three-time major winner, Stan Wawrinka.

Still going strong at age 40, Wawrinka reached a Challenger final last week and backed that performance up with a run to the quarterfinals in Saint-Tropez.

Fans in San Francisco would have relished a chance to see the Swiss perform at the Laver Cup, bringing some much-needed Grand Slam-winning experience to the event.

When tennis waved goodbye to Federer at the Laver Cup three years ago, Nadal, Djokovic, and Andy Murray were all invited to join him one last time.

Wawrinka wasn’t, missing out on the chance to compete alongside his biggest rivals in London.

The former world number three has never played a Laver Cup match, and you can’t help but feel like this may have been the perfect chance to give him one more time to shine on the biggest of stages.

That’s not to say Cobolli or Mensik don’t deserve their spots, but the latter, in particular, certainly hasn’t been at his best recently…

Jakub Mensik’s ATP Tour struggles

When Mensik won the Miami Open in March, defeating Djokovic in the final, many expected him to go on to win further titles in 2025.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do so and has struggled to maintain any consistent form this year.

2025 ATP events where Jakub Mensik has won 3+ matches

• Miami Open – Winner (6 match wins)
• Madrid Open – Quarterfinalist (3 match wins)

Now ranked inside the world’s top 20, there are undoubtedly good times ahead for Mensik, although it may be quite some time before we see him fulfill his potential.

He will hope to have a positive week at the Laver Cup, however, and will play Michelsen in singles on day one.