A dream team of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray will be complemented by Novak Djokovic at the Laver Cup.

Nadal, Federer and Murray had already been confirmed for the 2022 edition of the tournament, to be held in London in September.

And Djokovic, who won his 21st grand slam title at Wimbledon earlier this month, has now joined his fellow greats to add to a formidable Team Europe line-up.

The Serb last competed in the Laver Cup in 2018, and while it is yet unclear if he will be able to feature at the upcoming US Open due to his COVID-19 vaccination status, Djokovic is relishing the chance to play alongside the best players of the modern era.

He said: "It's the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you're normally competing against and to be joining Rafa, Roger and Andy – three of my biggest all-time rivals – it's going to be a truly unique moment in the history of our sport."

"I don't think I could have imagined having these four icons of the sport on one team together," said Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg.

"I know they, like I, appreciate the significance of this moment and will be truly up for it.

"Each year our goal is to win. With Rafa, Roger, Andy and Novak on the team, I like our chances."

The quartet have accounted for 66 of the last 76 grand slam titles won in men's tennis, while one of them held the number one spot every week between February 2004 and February 2022, when Daniil Medvedev ended that run.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Diego Schwartzman have been confirmed to be competing Team World - led by John McEnroe.

Six players will compete on each team, meaning Team Europe still have two more spots to fill, while Team World have three spare.

Roger Federer won his eighth Wimbledon men's singles title on July 16, 2017, when he swatted aside Marin Cilic to move past Pete Sampras and Willian Renshaw on the all-time list.

The Swiss great spurned match points against Novak Djokovic in the 2019 final, and in all likelihood it will be eight and out for Federer.

To mark five years since that last triumph, when Federer picked apart a blister-hit Cilic, Stats Perform has selected five Wimbledon classics featuring the 20-time grand slam winner.

It would have been easy to select many more, with Federer having won 105 of his 119 singles matches at Wimbledon, but these stick in the mind.

 

2001: Sinking Sampras, announcing impending greatness

Three years on from winning the boys' singles title, it was a 19-year-old Federer who came to Wimbledon 2001 in pursuit of a first main-draw win. He had lost in round one in 1999 and 2000, to Jiri Novak and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, but his talent was becoming widely known. This time Federer advanced to the quarter-finals, fending off Christophe Rochus, Xavier Malisse and Jonas Bjorkman, before running into the great Pete Sampras in round four.

Sampras had mopped up four in a row and seven of the last eight men's singles titles at Wimbledon, but the American's reign would be ended by the teenage Federer, a sensational 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 winner.

The beaten Sampras offered a prescient comment after the match, saying: "There are a lot of young guys coming up, and Roger is one of them. But I think he's a little extra special than some of the other guys."

Federer would lose to Tim Henman in the quarters of a tournament that was won by wildcard Goran Ivanisevic, and in 2002 Federer crashed to Mario Ancic in round one, but from 2003 to 2007 the man from Basle was unbeatable in SW19, lifting the title five years in succession.

This was the victory that made him believe it possible.

2008: Nadal halts Federer charge

Federer's glory run had taken in final wins over Mark Philippoussis, Andy Roddick (twice) and Rafael Nadal, also on two occasions. When it came to the 2008 trilogy clash between the five-time champion and the Spanish youngster, the previous year's five-set title match had pointed to likely fireworks.

In 2007, Federer had fended off a charge from the Spaniard to breeze through the decider, but it would be a different story third time around. Perhaps the greatest Wimbledon final in living memory was capped by late-night drama as Federer, who had not dropped a set until the showpiece match, roared back from a two-set deficit, saving match points in the fourth-set tie-break, to set up a winner-takes-all finale.

Earlier rain delays meant it was 21:15 BST when Nadal crossed the winning line, the clay-court king triumphing 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7 after four hours and 48 minutes of a raging, breathtaking battle to bring to an end Federer's reign on grass.

2009: After one trilogy final, could Roddick defy Federer in another?

Journalist: How would you describe what you did today?

Andy Roddick: I lost.

That press conference exchange just about summed up Roddick's floored state of mind after he succumbed 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 to Federer in their third Wimbledon final.

The American played a spectacularly great match over four hours and 16 minutes and yet was still beaten by his long-time rival, whose victory gave him a record 15th men's grand slam title, as 14-time winner Sampras watched on.

Federer served 50 aces that day, many of them in a staggering tense final set, simply refusing to lose.

2010: Saving face against Falla

A year on from the Roddick epic, Federer was plunged into another in round one when Colombian left-hander Alejandro Falla looked like pulling off an upset for the ages.

Falla was the talk of the sporting world when he snatched the first two sets, and the world number 60 had three break points against Federer's serve at 4-4 in the third.

Federer clung on, and in the fourth he again repelled the danger when Falla served for the match at 5-4 ahead. From that point, having spurned glorious opportunities to close it out, Falla faded and ended up losing 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-0.

It was a reminder that Federer can be a scrapper too, winning on off days, refusing to submit to humiliation.

2016: Cilic classic leaves Federer "ecstatic"

This was the quarter-final that fuelled hopes the meeting of Federer and Cilic in the 2017 final would prove to be another Wimbledon masterpiece.

That title match, a year later, proved an anti-climax, but this tussle in the last eight was spellbinding, with Cilic going two sets clear and having three match points in the fourth.

Having beaten Federer in the US Open semi-finals two years previous, Cilic again produced lights-out tennis, only to find the great champion across the net stubbornly refusing to give ground as the match reached its climax.

Federer scrambled admirably to snatch a 6-7 (4-7) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 victory, saying: "I'm ecstatic I was able to come through. It wasn't going well for me, so it was about staying in the match somehow, hoping for his level to drop maybe a little bit, and get a little bit lucky. It was an incredible match."

He could not keep it going, losing another five-setter to Milos Raonic in the semi-finals, but Federer would be back a year later to land his eighth, and surely last, Wimbledon title.

Tennis great Roger Federer is no longer ranked by the ATP Tour after his remaining ranking points expired, meaning he has dropped out of the top 100 for the first time this century.

The 40-year-old has not played since undergoing knee surgery after a straight-sets defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2021, having also missed much of the 2020 season with a similar injury.

But Federer, a 20-time grand slam champion, has repeatedly ruled out retiring and recently said he intends to make an ATP Tour comeback in 2023.

His remaining ranking points have now expired, meaning he has not only dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in almost 23 years, but he is no longer ranked at all by the ATP.

According to Opta, the last time the Swiss superstar was not ranked among the 100 best players in the world was October 4, 1999, a remarkable 8,316 days ago.

Daniil Medvedev remains as world number one, while Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic slipped to seventh in the rankings despite his win over Nick Kyrgios at SW19 on Sunday, as ranking points were stripped in this year's tournament.

Martina Navratilova said she was "gutted" to miss Wimbledon's Centre Court centenary celebration after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

The nine-time champion was absent from a parade of champions, and in a series of posts on social media she explained why she had to sit it out.

Past winners were introduced to the main show court's middle Sunday crowd, with the one-time champions going first, all the way through to eight-time Wimbledon king Roger Federer.

Navratilova would have come out last of all, as the most successful singles player in Wimbledon history, but she was unable to take part. Including doubles, Navratilova won 20 slam titles at Wimbledon.

"Unfortunately I will miss it as I just tested positive this morning," she wrote on Twitter shortly before the ceremony. "Am so bummed!!!! I am gutted I can't be there."

Confirming she had the coronavirus, Navratilova wrote: "Yup, got it here for sure… oh well. So wanted to be on that court with so many champions of our sport."

Asked how she was feeling, the 65-year-old Czech-born American added: "Not too bad so far- wouldn't want to play tennis but ok… fingers crossed."

A host of greats of the game delighted the crowd, with stars of the women's tour including Navratilova's former great rivals Chris Evert and Billie Jean King, along with Margaret Court and Venus Williams, while Federer was joined by a field of fellow men's superstars that included Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic, Stefan Edberg, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Three-time former champion Boris Becker was another notable absentee, after the German was jailed in April for offences relating to his 2017 bankruptcy. Seven-time winner Serena Williams also missed the event, after her first-round defeat.

Navratilova has been working at Wimbledon during the championships, notably appearing as a member of the BBC broadcast team.

Roger Federer hopes he can grace Centre Court at Wimbledon one last time as he bids to return from the knee injury he suffered last year.

The 20-time grand slam champion has not played since undergoing knee surgery after a straight-sets defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals at SW19 last July, having also missed much of the 2020 season with a similar injury.

But Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon champion, has repeatedly ruled out retiring and said last month he intends to make an ATP tour comeback in 2023.

Speaking alongside a swathe of former Wimbledon champions at a ceremony marking 100 years since the opening of Centre Court, the 40-year-old said he hopes to extend his long association with the tournament when he returns.

"I've been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court, it feels awkward to be here today in a different type of role, but it's great to be here with all the other champions," he said.

"This court has given me my biggest wins, my biggest losses, one of my highlights of course was in 2001, walking out here with Pete Sampras [for a memorable fourth-round match], who inspired a lot of us to play, to try to be successful and represent the sport well, I hope I did that.

"I hope I can come back like you said, one more time."

Federer's injury woes have reduced him to featuring at just three of the last 10 grand slams, and he revealed his recovery had taken longer than he anticipated. 

"Of course, I've missed being here, I would have loved to be here," he added.

"I knew walking out here last year [after his exit] it was going to be a tough year ahead. 

"Maybe I didn't think it was going to take me this long to come back, but the knee has been rough on me.

"But I've been happy, it's been a good year, regardless of tennis."

Another big-serving display from John Isner at Wimbledon means he now has the most ATP Tour aces on record.

Ivo Karlovic – one of only two tennis stars taller than the giant Isner – had set the benchmark with 13,728 across his career, the most since aces were first tracked in 1991.

But Isner has chipped away at that total over the course of this week at the All England Club.

The American's 54 aces in five sets against Enzo Couacaud in the first round made him the first player to pass 50 in a grand slam match since he had last done so versus Steven Johnson at the 2020 US Open.

And there were a further 36 in an epic second-round win over Andy Murray, leaving Isner just four short of matching Karlovic and five away from passing him.

Against Jannik Sinner, in Friday's third round, Isner raced past his target, tallying 12 aces in the first set alone.

It is a record Isner is likely to own for some time, with 43-year-old Karlovic absent from the ATP Tour this year and playing only six main-draw matches in 2021.

Roger Federer is third on the list, way back on 11,478.

Feliciano Lopez equalled Roger Federer's record of 81 main-draw appearances at grand slam events in the Open era but he was beaten in the first round at Wimbledon.

The 40-year-old made his grand slam debut at the 2001 French Open and had appeared in every major since the 2002 event in Paris until he failed to progress through qualifying at Roland Garros this year.

Spaniard Lopez went down in straight sets to Botic van de Zandschulp at SW19 on Tuesday.

Ranked 214 in the world, Lopez is a three-time quarter-finalist at the All England Club, while he also reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2015.

Since then, the veteran has never progressed further than the third round at a grand slam.

Fabrice Santoro is third on the list behind Federer and Lopez with 70 main-draw appearances at majors, with Mikhail Youzhny and Fernando Verdasco on 69.

Carlos Alcaraz has been checking out footage of Wimbledon greats including Roger Federer as he bids to sharpen up his raw grass-court game.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz has shot up to number seven in the ATP rankings after winning four titles this year, having begun 2022 outside the top 30.

However, he has little in the way of pedigree on grass, having been stopped in his tracks in round two last year by Daniil Medvedev, winning just seven games.

Of his titles this year, three have come on clay and one on a hard court.

Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon boys' singles in 2019, losing to American Martin Damm, and regardless of his recent stellar form, it is difficult to predict how he might fare in London this year.

It is clear that Alcaraz believes he can learn to play on the grass, and that he will pull out all the stops to become a champion on the fast lawns of London, beginning on Monday.

"I'm trying to copy some things from the best ones," he said. "I always watch videos: Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, Rafa [Nadal] and Andy [Murray] as well, trying to copy the moves."

That quartet has dominated at Wimbledon for two decades now. The last player not from that group to win the men's singles was Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, with Federer landing eight titles, Djokovic six, Nadal two and Murray two.

Federer is the only one of Wimbledon's 'Big Four' absent this year; knee trouble preventing him taking part.

Alcaraz, who is seeded fifth, predicted this Wimbledon will be a "tough" assignment in his own fledgling career.

However, seeing fellow Spaniard Nadal get to grips with grass early in his own career has instructed Alcaraz it is a surface that he should not fear.

Nadal was 22 when he won the first of his Wimbledon titles, and 20 when he first reached a final at the All England Club.

Alcaraz is not entirely ruling out challenging this year, because that is how he approaches every event he enters.

He will start on Monday against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, with that match given a prestigious Court One billing, such is Alcaraz's rising status.

"Of course, watching Rafa – I would say he is more for clay courts – winning so many tournaments on grass, winning twice here in Wimbledon, you'd think that you are able to adapt your game to grass courts," Alcaraz told a news conference on Sunday.

"But I would say I have a game that is going to adapt well on grass, trying to go to the net, playing aggressive.

"I would say I'm able to play well on grass, and it was said I couldn't prepare well for Wimbledon this year, but I always come to every tournament thinking I'm able to do good results or even able to win the tournament."

Serena Williams' return to Wimbledon represents a "great example" to other players, according to Nick Kyrgios, who said tennis fans should not take her or other fellow greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, for granted.

Comparing the quartet to four-time NBA MVP LeBron James, Kyrgios says sports fans should enjoy the legends' "amazing" exploits while they still can.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that Williams – who has not played competitively since losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon last year – has been handed a singles wildcard to compete at the year's tournament, which begins later this month. 

Williams, now aged 40 and ranked 1,208th in the world, has won seven singles titles at Wimbledon, the last of which came in 2016, and 23 grand slams in total.

Roger Federer has reiterated his desire to make an ATP tour comeback in 2023, having not played since defeat at Wimbledon in 2021.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has been forced to the sidelines following knee surgery last year.

At 40, questions have been posed whether the Swiss star might hang up his racquet after one of the most successful careers of the Open era.

But now, Federer says he intends to make a return next year, having committed to partnering Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup in London before competing at the Swiss Indoors tournament in his home town of Basel.

"Yes, definitely," he told Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger on his hopes for a return to the ATP tour next year. "How and where, I don't know yet. But that would be the idea.

"I haven't planned more than the Laver Cup and Basel yet. After Basel, the season is over anyway. It's important for me to get fit again so that I can train fully.

"Once I've done that, I can choose how many tournaments I play and where. The Laver Cup is a good start, I don't have to play five matches in six days.

"I will have to be able to do that in Basel. But I'm hopeful, I've come a long way. I'm not far away."

Rafael Nadal's latest grand slam triumph at the French Open is "unbelievable", says Roger Federer, who believes his rival "keeps raising the bar".

The Spaniard cruised through to both a record 14th success on clay at Roland Garros and a record-extending 22nd men's grand slam title with a straight sets demolition of Casper Ruud.

That made it two from two in 2022 for the 36-year-old, leaving him clear of both Federer and Novak Djokovic, who remain on 20 grand slam crowns each.

The former – who has enjoyed a strong sporting rivalry and friendship with Nadal throughout their intertwined careers – however has nothing but praise for his latest achievement.

"I didn't watch the final," Federer told Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger. "I watched the quarter-final [against Djokovic] a bit before I went to sleep.

"In general, it's just unbelievable what Rafa has achieved. The record of Pete Sampras, which I beat, was 14 grand slam titles.

"Now Rafa won the French Open 14 times. That's unbelievable. I was happy for him that he did it again.

"Hats off to Rafa. After the 10th, 11th time, I already thought: 'This can't be.' He keeps raising the bar. It's gigantic."

Federer has been unable to add to his own haul of grand slams, having missed the tail-end of 2021 and start of 2022 through injury as he continues to recover from knee surgery.

The 40-year-old Swiss star acknowledged he has not yet plotted anything more than competing in the Laver Cup and Basel Open in October, stressing he will focus on achieving full fitness rather than setting a return date.

"After Basel, the season is over anyway," he added. "It's important for me to get fit again so that I can train fully. Once I've done that, I can choose how many tournaments I play and where.

"The Laver Cup is a good start, I don't have to play five matches in six days.

"I will have be able to do that in Basel. That's why I have to prepare for it in practice. I'm curious myself what's still to come.

"But I'm hopeful, I've come a long way. I'm not far away. The next three or four months will be extremely important."

On a return to top-class tennis in 2023, Federer said that such a move remained the aim, adding: "Yes, definitely. How and where, I don't know yet. But that would be the idea. Definitely."

Roger Federer's coach called for Court Philippe-Chatrier to be named after Rafael Nadal and Real Madrid paid tribute to the legendary Spaniard after he won a staggering 14th French Open title.

Nadal produced yet another masterclass at Roland Garros, beating Casper Ruud 6-3 6-3 6-0 to secure a record-extending 22nd grand slam title on Sunday.

There have been concerns the 36-year-old may be forced to retire due to a foot injury, but one of the all-time greats vowed to fight on after completing the Australian Open and Roland Garros double in the same year for the first time.

Nadal was imperious as he moved two clear of Federer and Novak Djokovic's haul of major crowns.

The 'King of Clay' has won an astonishing 112 French Open matches and suffered only three defeats in one of the most astonishing sporting dominances.

Ivan Ljubicic, Federer's coach, called for the main show court at Roland Garros to be named after Nadal.

He tweeted: "Not many PLAYED 14 @rolandgarros tournaments. He won it 14 times. There is no word to describe this feat. Don't think good old Philippe would mind if his court changes the name to Rafael Nadal - statue is not enough."

Iga Swiatek ticked off a whole host of accomplishments as her 34-match winning streak carried her into the French Open final on Thursday.

The world number one was in sensational form heading to Roland Garros after winning five consecutive tournaments.

And there has appeared little prospect of Swiatek slowing in Paris, with her 6-2 6-1 defeat of Daria Kasatkina securing a sixth WTA Tour final appearance in a row.

Swiatek is the first player to make six finals in the first six months of the year since Serena Williams reached seven before the halfway mark in 2013.

She has also now matched Williams' best winning run this century, with only Novak Djokovic in 2011 (43), Roger Federer in 2006 (42) and Venus Williams in 2000 (35) enjoying longer sequences across both the ATP and WTA Tours since 2000.

Swiatek's feats are all the more impressive given her age, as she turned 21 just this week.

Now with 20 wins at Roland Garros, the 2020 champion is the youngest female player to that mark since Martina Hingis in 1999.

Only eight women – Evonne Goolagong, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic – have reached their second French Open final at a younger age.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have paid tribute to the "charismatic" Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after the 37-year-old brought his 18-year professional career to a close.

Tsonga, who reached a career-high ranking of world number five in 2012, confirmed in April that he would retire at the culmination of his French Open campaign.

That duly came in the first round on Tuesday as he bowed out to world number eight Casper Ruud 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 7-6 (7-0).

He retires having won, according to Opta, 464 Tour-level matches since September 2004.

Tsonga is one of just three players, along with Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro, to have beaten Nadal, Federer and Djokovic while they were ranked world number one.

He is also one of three players, alongside Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych, who have defeated Nadal, Federer and Djokovic at grand slams.

A video tribute was played on court after his defeat to Ruud, which featured messages from the sport's most iconic players.

Federer said: "I wanted to congratulate you on an amazing career and it was a pleasure to share the court with and play against you, even to lose against you!

"We had some great battles. Enjoy the moment in Paris with all your friends and family, in front of all your adoring spectators."

Djokovic added: "Jo is one of the most charismatic tennis players ever to play the game. I was very happy to share the court with him many times.

"We get along well and he's a really nice guy. He brought a lot of positive attention and popularity to our sport not just because of his dynamic game style, but also his charisma and his personality, so it's a big loss for professional men's tennis to have him retire.

"I wish him all the best, and he definitely should be happy about his career and his achievements. He's made his mark and his legacy in our sport."

Nadal said: "He is very charismatic. I've known him since we were kids; he is a good guy and I think he brings a lot of positive things to our sport so I'm sad to see him going but we are getting old so it's going to happen for everyone."

Speaking at a media conference after his defeat, Tsonga said he would now spend some time relaxing before focusing on the development of his tennis academy.

He said he will miss the adrenaline of playing on court, as well as how he was able to express himself completely when competing.

"It's adrenaline, to step onto a big court like this one," he said. "It's adrenaline you can feel when you have 15,000 people shouting out your name, supporting you on the court.

"This is what I'm going to miss – the contact with the crowd. And with those who have been supporting me for all these years.

"You know, in real life, it's sometimes difficult to be intense. You don't want to shock, you don't want to be too rude, you don't want to hurt somebody.

"You always try to act to be nice, to be sociable. But, you know, on the court, you can express your fever. You can express everything about you, and it's sometimes freeing."

Andrey Rublev is unsure what the best course of action is ahead of Wimbledon, but hopes tennis can "work together" to ensure the grand slam goes ahead, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic targeting history. 

Wimbledon was last week stripped of its ranking points by the WTA and ATP over the decision from The All England Club to ban Belarusian and Russian players – including Rublev – from competing.

That decision was made in the midst of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

With ranking points now not on offer, several high-profile players, including former WTA number one Naomi Osaka, have suggested they may skip the tournament.

Rublev might have no choice not to compete at Wimbledon, unless The All England Club scraps the ban altogether, but he says it is of utmost importance that tennis comes together to find a solution.

And Rublev believes the very elite players – such as Nadal and Djokovic – will compete anyway, regardless of ranking points or prize money, as he suggested tennis owes the duo, along with fellow great Roger Federer.

He told a news conference: "I don't know, because I haven't talked with any player about it, especially top ones. I guess the top players, especially Rafa, Novak, they are not playing now for points or for money.

"They are playing to be the first in history who achieve this amount of slams. So they are playing for a different thing. That's why it's very important to work together, to keep this amazing glory that we are having now, because of these players.

"If we are not going to work together, we just destroy it. What Roger, what Rafa, what Novak is doing, they did all these years. 

"They are other players from another generation, and we have to respect this, and that's why somehow we need finally to defend each other. Players need to defend the tournaments. Tournaments need to defend the players.

"Like this, tennis will grow, grow, grow a lot, because now all the success of tennis is only because of these three players, because of Roger, Rafa and Novak."

Rublev came through his first-round match at Roland Garros on Tuesday, defeating Kwon Soon-woo 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 6-4.

However, the seventh seed lashed out after losing the first set, recklessly hitting a ball out onto the court as he approached his chair, before slamming a water bottle into the court in frustration.

"I was quite tight, and I had a lot of emotions and I tried to really control them," Rublev said. 

"I tried to understand the situation. Be positive. I was able to be quiet and just be positive basically until the end of the first set. Then, yes, I lost my mind for a moment, and of course I regret what I did.

"It's unacceptable to hit the ball the way I hit it. It's more, I don't know, better even, if I just hit the racquet on the seat, because the ball can affect – I mean, it's not about me – it can affect someone. That's when the problem comes.

"This is unprofessional from my side, and hopefully I will never do it again."

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