Dominic Thiem confirms participation in 2021 Laver Cup, says he "learns a lot from the likes of Roger Federer & Bjorn Borg"

Dominic Thiem has announced that he will participate in the fourth edition of the Laver Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Boston from 24 to 26 September 2021. The Austrian is the second player to confirm his presence at the showpiece event after, of course, Roger Federer, who is the tournament's founder.

Dominic Thiem will return to don the colors of Team Europe for the third time, after representing them in the 2017 and 2019 editions. Led by Bjorn Borg and spearheaded by Roger Federer, Europe won the event on both of those occasions (and also in 2018 without Thiem); they will now be looking to make it a fourth straight title.

Boston 2021 player announcement. World No.3 and US Open Champion @ThiemDomi will return to defend the #LaverCup for Team Europe next September. Read more: https://t.co/2r2xlKTk3z pic.twitter.com/WDt8Qn1Q0F

— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) November 24, 2020

In his official statement, Thiem expressed delight at the chance of wielding his racquet for Team Europe again. The 27-year-old also stressed that he was eager to help Roger Federer and Co secure a fourth title at the one-of-a-kind event.

"The Laver Cup is a fantastic event and I’m really excited to be a part of Team Europe for the Boston edition," Thiem said. "I’ve been lucky enough to be on the winning side at two of the three Laver Cups so far – in Prague and Geneva, and it’s a really unique event, like no other on the tour. I’m really looking forward to helping Team Europe capture a fourth title."

Dominic Thiem believes that he can learn a lot from Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg.

Dominic Thiem then mentioned that apart from the joy of being in a fun team environment, the Laver Cup was also a great platform to learn from legends like Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg.

“It’s so cool to be competing as part of a team with guys I’m normally facing across the net,” the Austrian continued. “We have so much fun together, but I also still learn a lot from the likes of Roger and Bjorn who have so much experience in the game.”

With Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer, I feel we’ve got a great foundation: Bjorn Borg

Bjorn Borg is delighted with the addition of Dominic Thiem.

In the same press release, Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg expressed his happiness at securing a player of Dominic Thiem’s caliber. The Swede spoke in glowing terms about the Austrian’s displays during the 2020 season, in which he managed to lift his maiden Grand Slam title.

“Dom has had an incredible season, despite the unprecedented circumstances,” Borg remarked. “He consistently performs at the top level and it was great to see him win his first Slam earlier in the year in New York.”

With Dominic Thiem joining Roger Federer in the side, Borg believes he has got a solid core. But the Swede asserted they would need to be at their best to douse the challenge of the rapidly improving Team World, headed by his good friend John McEnroe.

"With him and Roger confirmed I feel we’ve got a great foundation," Borg said. "But for sure we’ll need to be in top form as each year Team World get tougher and tougher and my great friend and rival John McEnroe will be hungrier than ever to win in front of a home crowd!"