Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock & Frances Tiafoe – Day 1 – Preview & Prediction | 2022 Laver Cup
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THE FACTS
When is Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe on and what time does it start? Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe will take place on Friday 24th June, 2022 – not before 21:00 (UK)
Where is Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe taking place? Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe will take place at the O2 Arena in London, England
What surface is Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe being played on? Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe will take place on an indoor hard court
Where can I get tickets for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe? Visit this link for the latest ticket information for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe
What channel is Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe on in the UK? Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe will be televised live on Eurosport and the Amazon Prime app on Smart TVs for those with a discovery+ subscription
Where can I stream Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in the UK? discovery+ subscribers can stream Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal vs Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe live while the match will also be available on the Prime Video app (for those that have taken a discovery+ subscription out through Amazon) and Eurosport Player
THE LOWDOWN
The final professional match of Roger Federer’s glittering career has felt close now for several years and yet almost like it could never be allowed to happen. The 20-time Grand Slam champion’s last match on tour was a quarter-final defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon last summer, a tournament where he remains the record-holder with eight Grand Slam titles spanning from 2003 to 2017. In a way, London is a fitting city to say goodbye to the 41-year-old’s playing career but it will be bittersweet not to see him grace SW19 once more.
The fact that Federer is not fit enough to play a singles match at the Laver Cup is as disappointing as it is cold proof that the Swiss is right to hang up his rackets now, so soon after his contemporary Serena Williams gracefully said goodbye on her terms, but playing one last match alongside his greatest rival is a beautiful alternative. Federer and Rafael Nadal faced each other 40 times on the ATP tour, with the Spaniard winning 24 of them, but their last match on court will be poignant, together as a team for only the second time as they represent Europe in the Laver Cup.
THE PREDICTION
Their previous outing saw an excellent straight-sets victory over Jack Sock and Sam Querrey in the inaugural Laver Cup back in 2017 and Team World’s Sock will relish the opportunity to face the pair once again on Friday night, this time alongside recent US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe. Other than being two of the best players to ever take to court, with 42 Grand Slam titles between them, Nadal and Federer’s playstyles actually make for an incredible combination. Right and left-handed for a wide-as-possible wingspan, with two vastly different but world-class serves, the pair should have little trouble holding their own service games and returning from either wing. Their biggest weapon here, though, will be a partisan atmosphere at the O2 with any fan close to neutral likely to pull fully in their direction.
Sock and Tiafoe make for an exciting duo themselves, with former world number eight Sock’s powerful serve and excellent volleying a heady mix alongside Tiafoe’s energy and love of a big occasion. World number 19 Tiafoe especially will thrive in this atmosphere but there could be a fair amount of awe in the Team World pairing no matter how much they treat it like any other match. It is, after all, particularly hard to win something that the vast majority of the world wants you to lose. There is, also, the unfortunate need to limit expectations here with no guarantee that the match will be concluded. Federer has not played a tour-level match since last July and, after spending much of the last 14 months trying to get back, there is clearly a reason, or several, as to why he has had to admit defeat. Friday night will be appointment viewing for any tennis fan, any sports fan, and a suitably grand farewell to a man who changed the game forever. The best we can hope for is that he gets to finish it on his own terms.
Backing Team Europe to win at least a set looks the suitably cautious way to approach the match in the markets but this is an occasion that simply requires your attention. There will always be debates about the greatest of all time: by the numbers, by the surface, by the era; by dominance or style or legacy. There will also never be a satisfactory answer, even decades from now. What is certain, however, is that there will never be another like Roger Federer.
