NEW YORK • Roger Federer has always been a student of tennis.

While still a teenager more than 20 years ago, the 20-time Grand Slam winner was interested in who the sport's great historical figures were, what they won and how they styled their strokes.

The Swiss latched on to Rod Laver, the only tennis player to win the calendar Grand Slam - Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens - twice, in 1962 and 1969, the only time a man has done so in the Open era.

It was with a nod to the Australian that in 2017, Federer helped create the Laver Cup, an exhibition team competition featuring six top male players from Europe facing off against six from the rest of the world.

The event has since been held in Prague, Chicago and Geneva. After a year's hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it will be held until tomorrow at TD Garden in Boston.

"In our sport, we don't have enough of a platform for former great players, legends of the game," said Federer, 40, by telephone from his home in Switzerland, where he is rehabilitating from knee surgery.

"If you look at golf, they have a wonderful way of going about it. Former players are always around, always welcome and always advising the younger ones.

"Having an event like the Laver Cup is a way to shine a light on the legends like Rod Laver and many, many others who paved the way for us."

Federer, together with his longtime agent Tony Godsick, has done his part to link some of the best in the game, past and present, through the Cup.

His two captains are Bjorn Borg, winner of five straight Wimbledons and six French Open titles, and John McEnroe, who won the US Open four times and Wimbledon thrice.

The vice-captains are McEnroe's younger brother Patrick and Borg's Swedish compatriot and former world No. 4 Thomas Enqvist.

While six top-10 men's players are on board, the "Big Three" of the sport - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer - are not participating this year, making it less of a draw.

But for Federer, the real allure of the Cup is the camaraderie among players, who usually stare at each other across the net rather than sit side by side on the benches.

Even as his playing days wind down, the former world No. 1 will continue to support the event.

"I definitely see myself being involved," he said.

"I'd love to be the captain one day. I think it's a beautiful way of getting the rivals to co-exist for a week together."

As for having the game's past champions, including the 83-year-old Laver, attend each year, that is what Federer wants.

"This event is a get-together," he said. "That's what I wanted it to be. It's the wisdom, the stories, having legends tell stories to the younger generation...

"It's passing down the wisdom."

NYTIMES

LAVER CUP

Day 1: 7am & 9am & Day 2: tomorrow, 1am & 3am, StarHub Ch213