The Laver Cup Crowd In London Looked More Like The Met Gala Than A Tennis Match

You can tell a lot about the health of a sport by who bothers to turn up and watch it. Judging by the front rows at the 2026 Laver Cup in London this weekend, tennis is doing just fine, thanks.

Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted at the O2 Arena alongside Roger Federer, the man who dreamed up the team event in the first place and who has settled into retirement as the most charming host in the game. Anna Wintour, who has never knowingly missed a Federer occasion, was there too.

The ATP has put together a gallery of the famous faces in the stands, and it reads less like a tennis crowd and more like the guest list for a very expensive London dinner party.

Wintour posed with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Federer and Tony Godsick, Federer’s longtime agent and the co-founder of the Laver Cup. That is an enormous amount of influence in a single photo, and roughly none of it came from a forehand.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was handed coin toss duties before Alex de Minaur took on Alexander Zverev, which is about as close as the Premier League gets to centre court. For the Aussies watching at home, de Minaur was once again flying the flag for Team World, presumably with the same understated Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso energy he brings off the court.

Elsewhere, Jon Bon Jovi was photographed with John McEnroe, the former Team World captain, which finally put two men who built entire careers on being loud in front of big crowds in the same frame.

Romeo Beckham, the model and former footballer, grabbed a moment with Carlos Alcaraz, while singer-songwriter Ella Mai and Sir Ian McKellen were both spotted in the stands. Actor Alex Pettyfer rounded out the A-list contingent.

Gandalf at the tennis was not on our 2026 bingo card, but here we are.

There is a bit of weight to all this, too. The O2 is where Federer played the final match of his career at the 2022 Laver Cup, partnering Rafael Nadal in a doubles match that ended with both men in tears on the bench. Coming back to the same building as host rather than player clearly still means something to him, and the crowd seemed to know it.

It has been a big few months for the Swiss. His Hall of Fame speech had grown men welling up across the internet, and he wore the loudest Rolex in the catalogue to his US Open homecoming.

The Laver Cup was always pitched as tennis with a dose of showbiz. Four years after Federer hung up the racquet, the showbiz side is well and truly winning, and judging by the faces in London, nobody in the stands minds one bit.