It's double delight as Nadal and Federer may team up in Laver Cup

Bengaluru, September 21: Tennis greats Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will achieve a career first in Prague this weekend when they play side-by-side in the Laver Cup, a Ryder Cup golf style team event featuring Team Europe versus Rest of the World.

Long-time rivals Nadal and Federer, who are back at the top of the sport's rankings after sweeping the four Grand Slam titles in 2017, are expected to be selected by Europe team skipper Bjorn Borg to play doubles as well as singles.

It will the two legends' first appearance on the same side of the court in a rivalry which has spanned the best part of two decades.

Rafael #Nadal and Roger #Federer headline a strong European team in the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup.

More >> https://t.co/tofieFFYzH pic.twitter.com/TbtwxKkpkX

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) September 21, 2017

"I would love to play with Rafa and see that forehand do damage on the other side," said Federer, this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon champion.

"I'm sure that the crowd would go absolutely crazy and just because of that it would just be great to play," he added.

Nadal, who added the US Open to his Roland Garros title earlier this month, said he may be a little ring-rusty over the weekend having taken a break following his New York triumph.

"I didn't practice here yet, of course after the US Open. After a big event you go down a little bit, you need to recover energy. I have today and tomorrow to practise hard and let's see then," said the Spaniard.

Joining Federer and Nadal in the Europe team are fellow top 10 players Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem with former number four Tomas Berdych making up the squad.

Team World, skippered by John McEnroe, features four Americans -- Frances Tiafoe, Sam Querrey, John Isner and Jack Sock as well as Australian crowd puller Nick Kyrgios and Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov.

The three-day tournament runs from September 23 to 25 and will feature three sets per match, the last of which is a super tie-break (10 points). There are four matches a day -- three singles and a doubles.

Ironically, the Laver Cup presentation took place on Wednesday in Prague's old town on the same day that tennis's flagship team event, the Davis Cup was holding its draw for the 2018 season.