In honour of one of the greatest tennis players ever, Rod Laver, the inaugural Laver Cup will be held in Prague, pitting Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg, against the rest of the world, led by John McEnroe.
Thomas Enqvist will be Borg’s vice-captain, while Patrick Mcenroe will deputise for his brother.
Patrick is the longest-serving Davis Cup captain in US history, while Enqvist rose to world No.4 and took up playing tennis as Borg was his idol.
Team Europe will consist of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Dominc Thiem, Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych.
The rest of the world will have Juan Martín del Potro, Jack Sock, John Isner, Sam Querrey, youngster Denis Shapovalov, and the incredibly talented but mercurial Nick Kyrgios.
The three-day exhibition will have four best-of-three matches every day, including a doubles match. If a match goes to the third set, it will be a tiebreaker of ten instead of a full set.
Four of the six players are automatic selections, as per ATP rankings, while two are picked by the legendary captains. Borg and McEnroe will be captain for three years each, before new leaders are selected. The tournament will be played alternatively between Europe and USA as hosts, and will be an annual affair except on Olympic years.
The rules and scoring pattern will surely test the tactical acumen of both captains, with Day 1 matches worth one point each, Day 2 worth two, and Day 3 worth three, the first team to reach 13 points being declared winner.
If both teams are level at 12 each, a final match will be played on the third day. Each of the six will have to play at least one singles match on all three days, and no one can play more than two matches in total.
At least four of the six have to play one doubles match, and teams cannot be repeated.
My prediction is that, with both Rafa and Fed in the same team, Team Europe will emerge the victors.
Johnno
Guest
I'm not convinced. Think like the Super test in 2005 in cricket Aussies vs rest of the world in 2005 didn't seem to work.. Nice idea but this laver cup seems gymicky
Johnno
Guest
What about all this stuff about player welfare and too much Tennis, yet they somehow fit this exhibition style contest in.. I don't think it's good for Tennis this. It's a bit of promotion short term sure, but what about all this talk of players being rested and so on. Maybe put in another tournament instead on the circuit so more players on the tour can be in it..
Ritesh Misra
Roar Guru
Thanks everyone. This is an interesting concept. I guess future captains will be sampras, Lendl, agassi, federer and rafa
Beny Iniesta
Guest
McEnroe is a big fan of Kyrgios. If you're not aware of this you clearly haven't been paying attention. Very obvious pick from McEnroe.
BrainsTrust
Guest
if its about money and crowds Why would they want an Australian its being held in Prague. The TV sales would be Europe followed by North America. When this was conceived they would have probably thought Raonic and Nishikori would be challenging at the top of the rankings. I would say Kyrgios is there because McEnroe wants someone who has a decent chance of winning.
theanhuat
Guest
.....IMHO, will be quite a while before Team RotW wins....
theanhuat
Guest
....BEPE, isn't Kyrgios' tennis better than the other two?....
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Thanks for the info Ritesh. Was not aware of the details of this encounter. Should be fascinating indeed. Honestly, with an European team like this, the rest of the world may as well not show up for this encounter ?
BEPE
Guest
Disgraceful that Kyrgios got picked. If they wanted an Aussie they should have picked Thompson or Millman. Kyrgios getting picked demonstrates this is probably more about money and crowds than it is about tennis