Novak Djokovic says Roger Federer made him the player he is today

0:23 Roger Federer hugged Novak Djokovic on stage during the Laver Cup gala at the Navy Pier ballroom Roger Federer hugged Novak Djokovic on stage during the Laver Cup gala at the Navy Pier ballroom

Novak Djokovic paid a glowing tribute to 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer ahead of the second edition of the Laver Cup which starts on Friday in Chicago.

Djokovic, who has been in red-hot form winning both Wimbledon and US Open this summer, is excited about playing doubles with Federer at the United Center.

The Serb will be making his debut at the event and he introduced Federer on to the stage by saying: "I'm the player I am today because of him [Federer]."

He also spoke about the opportunity to team up with the 37-year-old Swiss great when they take world No 1 doubles player Jack Sock and Kevin Anderson.

"We're very excited for this unique experience," said Djokovic. "We never played doubles together so this is what this competition is all about, bringing us all together.

"We're going to have Anderson and Sock, who is one of the best doubles players in the world across the net so we're going to have a great challenge and hopefully good support from team members and we can have fun."

Federer added: "I'm thrilled. I'm excited. I've never played with Novak before. We've had so many great battles on the singles court so to finally team up together is going to be very special for both of us.

"I think we still have to talk over the little bit about who is going to take the lead and how do we play exactly."

Each player will play at least one singles match during the first two days.

No player will play singles more than twice during the event.

At least four of the six players must play doubles.

No doubles combination can be played more than once, unless for the doubles decider on Day 3, if points are tied at 12-12.

Laver Cup: Day 1 Matches Team Europe v Team World Head To Head Match 1 Grigor Dimitrov v Frances Tiafoe 1-0 Match 2 Kyle Edmund v Jack Sock 1-1 Match 3 David Goffin v Diego Schwartzman 3-1 Match 4 Novak Djokovic & Roger Federer v Jack Sock & Kevin Anderson 0-0

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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Laver Cup in September while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.