"Frances Tiafoe is lying"; "Alexander Zverev's always late"- Roger Federer, Carlos Alcaraz & others call out duo's Laver Cup black carpet punctuality

Alexander Zverev and Frances Tiafoe were the usual suspects when tennis stars were asked for the player who needed the most time to get ready for the black carpet of the 2024 Laver Cup. While Team Europe stars went with the German, Team World members went with the American.

The seventh edition of the Laver Cup is underway in Berlin. However, before the action got underway, a special black carpet was held for the tennis stars, including players from both teams and legends like Roger Federer, Angelique Kerber, and Thomas Enqvist. During the event, the stars were asked who took the most time to get ready for the event.

Among the Team Europe legends, Federer and Kerber both went with Alexander Zverev stating:

"Well, Zverev's always late. But I don't know how long it takes to get ready. It's just that he doesn't manage time," the Swiss opined.

"There’s no question, Sascha, because he's always late. And for sure he will be the last one who is arriving here in Berlin," Kerber hilariously said.

Zverev didn't find any support from his team members. Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov, and Carlos Alcaraz all mentioned how it was the German who was late.

"Maybe Sacha or Grigor," Ruud pondered.

"Stefanos was there first. So maybe I go for Sascha," Dimitrov felt.

"It was Zverev, the last one. Yes, I think it was him," Alcaraz commented.

When he got a chance to explain, Alexander Zverev mentioned that it was Bjorn Borg who came last and not him. He also said that he got ready in five minutes.

"I have no idea. I was last. But no, actually Bjorn was last. But, it took me about five minutes, I was just in bed. I didn't want to wake up," Alexander Zverev said.

Interestingly when it came to the Team World stars, they unanimously called out Frances Tiafoe's punctuality. Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz joked about how Tiafoe had made major strides in his punctuality with the American No. 1 mentioning how Tiafoe was 'only' 11 minutes late.

"If I'm going to be straight, Foe is historically someone who's late to the party. But today he was locked in. I think what's most important is you improve and get better," Shelton said.

"It's always Frances. To his credit, he was only 11 minutes late tonight, which is, we're making big progress," Fritz joked.

Alejandro Tabilo, Francisco Cerundolo, and Thanasi Kokkinakis also mentioned Tiafoe as the latecomer of the lot.

"Hearing about his history, I think Foe," Tabilo said.

"It's always Frances. I mean, the latest guy to arrive to every meeting, Cerundolo mentioned.

"It's always Frances. It's always him. He said his suit wasn't in his room. He's lying. Every time," Kokkinakis felt.

Jim Courier and Tomas Enqvist felt that it was the American No. 1 Taylor Fritz who took the most time to get ready.

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Alexander Zverev teams up with Carlos Alcaraz to take on Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz; Frances Tiafoe takes a back seat on Day 1 of the Laver Cup

Alexander Zverev (Source: Getty)

After the first three matches of the opening day of the Laver Cup, Team Europe holds a 2-1 lead thanks to wins from Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov. Francisco Cerundolo kicked off things for Team World in the first match of the day by defeating Casper Ruud.

Alexander Zverev has teamed up with Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated him in the final of the French Open this year, to take the American duo of Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton. The American duo won the opening set 7-6(5).

Frances Tiafoe has taken a back seat on the opening day and could be seen in action on Day 2.