“The game is bright”: Roger Federer hails “new superstar” Carlos Alcaraz

WATCH: Roger Federer speaks to the press ahead of his last professional tennis tournament at Laver Cup

LONDON—The future of tennis is in good hands, says a retiring Roger Federer, speaking to the press before his final professional tennis tournament at the Laver Cup in London.

With Carlos Alcaraz rising to World No. 1 after his US Open triumph, and young players like Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Frances Tiafoe and more waiting in the wings, the Swiss champion is sure there will be no shortage of “superstars” in tennis after he finally hangs up his racquets.

“I watched him closely, what he did at the US Open and throughout the year,” Federer said of Alcaraz. “It's been fantastic.

“I always said there will be always new superstars in the game, and he's one of them. The game is bright.”

The constant search for “the next big thing” in tennis brought to mind the narratives around the beginning of Federer's own career. After Pete Sampras’ and Andre Agassi’s stranglehold on the game came to an end with their retirements, the search was on again.

The uncertainty even prompted the ATP Tour to unveil an iconic ad campaign called “New Balls Please” highlighting the next generation, Federer included. But in the end, the next wave of tennis champions eventually came in earnest—led by the Swiss himself.

“It was the same thing when Pete and Andre left,” Federer reflected. “They thought, well, what do we have here now? Guys who win Slams, there is never the same winner.

“Well, they got the same winners for a lot of years. It was Novak [Djokovic], Rafa [Nadal], myself, [Andy] Murray and Stan [Wawrinka].”

While the 20-time Grand Slam winner never got to play a match against Alcaraz—a fact that both he and the 19-year-old have rued in the days since Federer’s announcement—they’ve gotten to share a practice court while he was competing at Wimbledon as a junior.

But for Federer, the occasion was more of a chance to catch up with his good friend Juan Carlos Ferrero—Alcaraz’s coach—with whom he’s shared 13 tour-level clashes, as he recalled in a hilarious anecdote:

“I thought he played well. You know, it was good practice, just another warm-up,” he said. “And Juan Carlos [Ferrero] was there. I was more excited to see him obviously because he's my guy.

“And… very often when you practice with somebody, if the practice was good it's just simple to call again and say, Do you want to do it again? But I said, I want to hit with Juan Carlos, not with Carlos, just because I would like to practice with him and I'm super laid back in practice, anyway.

“I ended up playing with Ferrero. It was great. He didn't miss a ball. He could still be on tour. I'm really happy for him also in particular that they are being this successful.”