Alcaraz on Federer’s presence: 'It was great, honestly, playing in front of him'

Spain’s young tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has opened up about playing in front of the former world number one Roger Federer. The 21-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players in the world along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz is currently playing in the Laver Cup, where he is representing Team Europe. On Friday, the Spaniard played in the doubles category event along with Germany’s Alexander Zverev. The pair did not have a great outing, as they lost to Team World’s pair of Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.

One of the most attractive attendees at the Uber Arena in Berlin on Friday was legendary tennis star Federer. The Basel-born star is often regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 20 Grand Slam titles. He was the first men’s player ever to win more than 15 Grand Slam titles and was also the first to lift 20 major titles in the men’s singles category. Alcaraz spoke to the media after the match and stated that it was ‘great’ to play in front of the legendary tennis star. The four-time Grand Slam also revealed that Federer was ‘really happy’ to watch him play live finally.

“It was great, honestly, playing in front of him [Federer],” he said. “It’s the first time that he watched one of my matches in real life and I’m really happy that he was there watching our doubles. I think I’m good [at doubles], but I’m not as good as [I am at] the singles, I guess. I hope to see him tomorrow in the singles. I hope he enjoyed the doubles match, and obviously it was great seeing him in the practice. He didn’t tell me any tactics, any advice. But he just told me that he’s really happy about watching me in real life, that I’m here. It was a great time for me. I wished [for] that moment for a long time.”