The Laver Cup is entering its 7th edition year of competition which was first played in 2017, and, with Team Europe leading Team World 4-2, the former are keen to regain the Cup which they have now lost these past two consecutive years.
Last year the event was played in Vancouver and the ‘hosts’ lead by John McEnroe made mincemeat of his counterpart captain Bjorn Borg’s‘visitors’ winning 13-2 in the Rogers Arena, the most one-sided win of the competition so far.
Currently the two teams are preparing in Berlin’s Uber Arena with Alexander Zverev (ranked 2), Carlos Alcaraz (3) Daniil Medvedev (5) Casper Ruud (9) Grigor Dimitrov (10) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (12) representing Team Europe whilst Taylor Fritz (7), Frances Tiafoe (16) Ben Shelton (17), Alejandro Tabilo (22), Francisco Cerundolo (31) and Thanasi Kokkinakis (78) make up their Team World opponents.
On the basis of the rankings, Argentina’s Cerundolo believes they are the underdogs this time around, but tennis’s version of golf’s Ryder Cup can produce surprises especially as the three-day event has an interesting scoring system. Wins on day one score one point each, those on day two, two points each and on the final day, its 3 points per win. Again, Day one and two sees three singles and a doubles played, whilst Day three (the deciding Day), three singles and a doubles.
Alcaraz, who is making his first appearance in the competition, is keen to make an impression and is prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to regain the cup’ which was set up Roger Federer in honour of the Australian all-time great, Rod Laver, ‘the Rocket’.
“I’m really excited to be part of this event. I’m looking forward to meeting the fellas here,” Alcaraz said on arriving in Berlin.
“When I watch it on TV it is a really good atmosphere between us, supporting (each other) during the whole match.”
He is aware that McEnroe’s players are keen to maintain their winning momentum, but he is just as determined to make sure they don’t!
“That’s the goal,” he added. “I’m going to do whatever it takes or whatever I have in my hand to help Team Europe to bring back the trophy and let’s see – it’s going to be a tough one.
“I think we have a really good team that we can bring it back.”
His Norwegian team mate Ruud agrees saying youth is also on their side!
“(We are a) bit younger this time, except compared to 2022 when we had Roger, Rafa and last year we were also young, but now we have a lot of top players on the team, a lot of top 10, top five players coming.
“Carlos [Alcaraz] is going to play for the first time. Daniel [Medvedev] is always a good weapon to have. Sasha [Zverev] has the routine so I feel happy with my team-mates and looking forward to giving it to Team World.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the net, world No. 7 and US Open runner-up Fritz knows they face a tough task to retain the title’
“Laver Cup is one of my favourite weeks of the year to play with the team and I’m just excited to get out there to start getting into it and get ready for the event,” he said.
“It’s going to be interesting, I think, after the last two years, Europe has brought a really, really strong team, and it’s going to be a tough week.”
After tasting success last year when he made his debut in the competition, Cerundolo is desperate for another success but is realistic.
“I mean, it would be amazing if we can repeat the victory of last year,” he said
“I think this year is tough because they got almost a full team. I mean, almost six players are top 10 players from them.
“We also have a great team, the American guys did amazing in the US Open so I think we got our chances. I think they are the favourites, but we can also win,” he concluded.
Rafa Nadal was due to play but pulled out declaring he wasn’t fit enough and was replaced by Bulgaria’s Dimitrov. His withdrawal and his reluctance to say when he will re-appear on the tour again, would seem to indicate he is seriously considering retirement.
The two captains, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe – who retire after this edition – flank the Laver Cup.
(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images for Laver Cup)
And speaking of retirement, both Borg and McEnroe have said that this would be the last year they would captain their sides, They will be replaced respectively by Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi.
Beyond Berlin, Laver Cup will continue to prosper, said McEnroe, now 65. “I believe in the event,” he added, describing his decision to be part of it back in 2017, as “a no-brainer.”
“It’s an event that has added some spark to the tour, I think the players love it, it’s been very competitive,” he concluded.
