The Laver Cup was launched in New York on Wednesday with Federer and Nadal, who have won 31 Grand Slam titles between them, both committed to the event which will be held for the first time in Prague from September 22nd-24th next year.
Former Grand Slam heavyweights Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will be the captains.
Organizers of the tournament, named after Rod Laver, the last man to achieve the calendar Grand Slam in 1969, are hopeful that the current top two in the world — Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — will also be persuaded to play.
The new tournament would likely be played just a week after the Davis Cup semifinals.
“It's going to be unbelievable to be on the same side of the net as Rafa finally. It's a great feeling not facing the big forehand,” said 35-year-old Federer, who attended the launch despite injury ruling him out of the US Open which starts in New York on Monday.
Nadal, who has won 23 of his 34 career meetings against Federer, was equally appreciative when asked to list the qualities of his rival.
“Every one,” said the 30-year-old Spaniard.
Under the format of the Laver Cup, which will be played every year except in an Olympic season, there will be four matches each day — three in singles, one in doubles.
Europe would start as favourites based on current rankings — at the moment there are only five non-Europeans in the world top 20.
The leading player outside of Europe is Canada's world number six and Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic, ranked at six and currently coached by McEnroe.
“Milos sees these all-time greats and trying to bridge that gap, trying to figure out a way that he can get closer to the (top) guys,” said McEnroe.
TENNIS
Federer teams up with Nadal for new tennis tournament
Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer and Spanish champ Rafael Nadal will play doubles together in a new competition pitting Europe against the Rest of the World in a Ryder Cup-style tennis team event.
ROGER FEDERER
Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?
The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.
Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”
In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.
He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.
But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.
Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.
Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.
Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.
In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.
The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.
Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.
'Golden' ambitions
Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.
Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.
The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.
The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.
Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.
Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.
His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.
Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.
He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.
“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.
The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.
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