Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal Say They Will Play Doubles Together at Laver Cup

Tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have gone head-to-head 34 times but will join forces for the newly created Laver Cup next year.   

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), Federer and Nadal announced that they will be playing doubles at the tournament in Prague scheduled for September 22-24, 2017. 

The Laver Cup was first announced in January, with ESPN.com's Matt Wilansky describing it as tennis's version of golf's Ryder Cup. 

The event will feature the best men's European players against the best men's players from around the world. Teams will be made up of six players each competing in three singles matches and one doubles match per day. 

"This came about a couple years ago," said Tony Godsick, per Wilansky's report. "We've been talking about doing something with Rod Laver to honor his legacy. We've come up with a format and platform that we think will do the sport great and is really exciting."

Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will be captains for the two teams, per the AP report. Each captain will choose two players for his team, with the other four determined by results in ATP tournaments and world rankings. 

Nadal and Federer are at the tail end of their careers, but it would be hard for tennis to find a better duo to build the inaugural Laver Cup around. They have combined to win 31 Grand Slam tournaments. 

A duo of Nadal and Federer instantly brings credibility to the Laver Cup as both an important event and a must-see one for fans. Pairing the two together only adds to the drama that will slowly build for the next 13 months before the event kicks off.