By: Sports Desk | Updated: September 22, 2018 11:55:28 am
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic teamed up to take on Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock in the Laver Cup Men’s Doubles match.
Sharing 34 Grand Slams between them, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer paired up for the Men’s Doubles match against Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock during Team Europe vs Team World match on Day 1 of the Laver Cup. The two tennis stars, who share a great camaraderie outside of the tennis courts, saw a hilarious moment play out between them during the match when the Serbian accidentally struck the ball on Federer’s waist.
The moment occurred during the first game. Djokovic served the ball to Sock, who sent his reply fairly quickly. While both Federer and Djokovic are star players in the singles format, their lack of experience in doubles came to the fore, as they struggled with their positions while serving. Djokovic, in return to Sock’s quick return, struck Federer who had his back turned.
The current Wimbledon and US Open Champion gave a look of awe and chuckled as Federer gave him a wry smile. Djokovic then rubbed the waist of his Swede partner as the two returned to start the game again.
Federer and Djokovic eventually lost the match 7-6, 3-6, (10-6) giving a crucial point to Team World. At the close of Day 1, Team Europe had a lead of 3-1 against Team World.
Laver Cup is tennis’ equivalent of golf’s Ryder Cup where Team Europe takes on Team World. It is different from the other team-format in tennis – Davis Cup – where countries compete against the other instead of continents in the Laver Cup. Laver Cup is played across five sessions (afternoon and evening Friday and Saturday plus Sunday afternoon) with a total of 12 matches — 13 if needed to break a tie. The teams for the event are:
Team Europe: Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Novak Djokovic, David Goffin, and Kyle Edmund
Team World: Kevin Anderson, John Isner, Diego Schwartzman, Jack Sock, Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe
