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'What the hell': Federer, Nadal and Djokovic news rocks tennis world

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Roger Federer (pictured middle) after his Wimbledon loss, Rafael Nadal (pictured left) during practice and (pictured right) Novak Djokovic losing at the Olympics.
Roger Federer (pictured middle), Rafael Nadal (pictured left) and Novak Djokovic (pictured right) will all miss the Laver Cup for the first time in the tournament's history. (Getty Images)

The tennis world has reacted with disappointment after it was confirmed Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (The Big Three) would all skip the Laver Cup for Team Europe.

Federer shocked the tennis world this week after announcing he would undergo yet another knee surgery at the age of 40.

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After speculation ran rife over whether he could return to tennis, Federer addressed fans again overnight and said he was 'disappointed' he would miss his first Laver Cup.

"I’m really disappointed to be missing this year’s Laver Cup," he said.

“Team Europe has an incredible line-up though and I wish them all the very best as they go for their fourth Laver Cup win,” he added.

But many fans were also frustrated to find out Nadal and Djokovic would also miss the tournament.

Nadal recently returned at the Citi Open in Washington after the Spaniard missed Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics last month after injuring his left foot at the French Open.

But, the 20-time grand slam champion was forced to pull out of the Toronto hard-court event on Tuesday due to the same injury.

Rafael Nadal and teammate Roger Federer celebrating during a singles match at the Laver Cup in 2019.
Rafael Nadal (pictured right) and Roger Federer (pictured left0 will both miss the Laver Cup for Team Europe in 2021.(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup)

This has also resulted in him missing the Laver Cup.

To add to the misery of the tennis world, Djokovic will also miss the Laver Cup after taking time off after he was the only one of the 'Big Three' to travel to Tokyo.

But the World No.1 will enter the 2021 US Open with no hard-court warm-up events.

At least two of the three have entered for Team Europe during the tournament's short history.

Rafael Nadal and teammate Roger Federer share a joke during a singles match at the Laver Cup.
Rafael Nadal and teammate Roger Federer share a joke during a singles match at the Laver Cup. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup)

Team Europe still posses the majority of the highest-ranked players with World No.2 Daniil Medvedev, World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, recent gold medalist Alexander Zverev leading the team in Boston.

Fans erupt over sad Federer, Nadal and Djokovic news

While it was most likely the 'Big Three' would be missing the Laver Cup for the first time, fans were left utterly disappointed.

Critics pointed out the lure of the new tournament was seeing members of the 'Big Three' play with each other and questioned whether it could hold up after their absence.

One of the most memorable moments for Federer and Nadal fans was witnessing the pair play doubles for the first time ever.

Some fans even said they would be selling their tickets after missing the chance to see the legends of the sport play next to each other.

The Laver Cup didn't take place last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But, the tournament will return for its fourth edition this year.

For the first time ever, Team Europe (the winners of all three editions) won't have a grand slam champion in the line-up.

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