Jump to content

Laver Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laver Cup
Tournament information
Founded2017 (2017)
Editions6 (2023)
LocationEuropean city, world city rotation
SurfaceHard (indoor)
Draw2 teams (Team Europe vs. Team World)
Websitehttps://lavercup.com/

The Laver Cup is an international indoor hard court men's team tennis tournament between Team Europe and Team World, the latter of which is composed of players from all other continents except Europe. Usually held annually since 2017,[1] the tournament is intended to be the Ryder Cup of the tennis world.[2] It normally takes place two weeks after the US Open, with the location rotating between various host cities (that usually do not have an ATP Tour event); alternating yearly between European cities and cities in the rest of the world.[3] In addition to the guaranteed participation fees which are based upon the players' ATP rankings, each member of the winning team gets $250,000 in prize money, but the tournament itself does not count towards the players' point totals in the ATP Tour for that year.[4][5]

In May 2019, the Laver Cup became an officially sanctioned ATP Tour event.[6] Matches during the Laver Cup tournament differ from conventional 3-set matches played on the ATP Tour; in the event when the match is tied at one set all, a 10-point “match tiebreak” is played instead of a deciding final set (this is to ensure that all matches conclude within a reasonable timeframe of approximately two hours, whilst enabling four matches to be completed within a match day – that begins either at 1 pm local time for Days 1 and 2, or at 12 noon local time for the final Day 3 of the tournament).[7] In addition, unlike conventional ATP tour matches, coaching of match participants is commonly applied courtside by teammates and team captains.

Format

[edit]

The competition pits six top European players against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world. Each team is led by a team captain, who is a tennis legend. Three of the six players qualify based on their ATP singles ranking as of the Monday following the French Open in June. Three are "captain's picks", announced by the start of the US Open, in August.

There are 12 matches played over three days (nine singles and three doubles). Each match victory on day 1 is worth one point, on day 2 two points, and on day 3 three points. The first team to claim 13 points wins the tournament. Therefore, the winning team can only be decided on day 3.

There are six singles matches on the first two days (3 each day) and all six team players plays one of those matches. No player plays singles more than twice. At least four of the six team members take part in doubles. So, one team player (doubles specialist) could play all three doubles matches with three other team players. All matches start as two sets, a 10-point “match tiebreak” is played if the match is level at one set all.

In the event both teams are tied at 12 points each, a fifth match known as “The Decider” is played on day 3, whereby one set is played as a regular set with ad scoring and a tiebreak.

In the event that only one match is required on Sunday (last previous occurrence was at the 2023 Laver Cup), an exhibition match is played following the trophy ceremony.[3]

Tournament schedule

[edit]
Laver Cup tournament schedule[8]
Day Session Matches Start time
(local time)
Points
per match
Points
available
1 Day 2 singles 1 p.m. 1 4
Night 1 singles, 1 doubles 7 p.m.
2 Day 2 singles 1 p.m. 2 8
Night 1 singles, 1 doubles 7 p.m.
3 Day 1 doubles, 3 singles 12 p.m. 3 12

History

[edit]

The tournament is named after Australian Rod Laver, a tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the sport (He won all four major titles in the same calendar year, winning the Grand Slam twice in singles, in 1962 and 1969; the latter remains the only time a man has done so in the Open Era.) Roger Federer's management company, TEAM8, Brazilian businessman Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Tennis Australia partnered to create the Laver Cup.[9] Roger Federer was inspired to create a tennis team tournament based on the biennial Ryder Cup golf tournament, which features the best golfers from the United States playing against the best golfers from Europe.[10] However, Laver Cup differs as it is purely an invitational event based on past historical performances; selection of (and the playing agreement with) the tournament participants are not automatically based from the highest ranked players of the recent ATP Tour world rankings.

Former rivals Björn Borg of Sweden (Team Europe) and John McEnroe of the United States (Team World) were announced to serve as captains for at least the first three editions.[11] After the 2019 edition, they announced that they will reprise their roles as team captains for a fourth straight edition.[12]

2017: Inaugural edition

[edit]
The O2 Arena in Prague during the first Laver Cup.[13]

The first edition was held in Prague from 22 to 24 September 2017, at the O2 Arena. Team Europe defeated Team World 15–9. Despite the 6 point score difference, this was a very tight battle from day 1. In the last match, Roger Federer defeated Nick Kyrgios 4-6 7-6 (6) 11-9, after coming back from 8-5 down in the final tiebreak, as well as saving a match point at 9-8.[14]

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Spain Rafael Nadal 1
Switzerland Roger Federer 2
Germany Alexander Zverev 4
Croatia Marin Čilić 5
Austria Dominic Thiem 7
Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych 19
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
United States Sam Querrey 16
United States John Isner 17
Australia Nick Kyrgios 20
United States Jack Sock 21
Canada Denis Shapovalov 51
United States Frances Tiafoe 72
  • Singles rankings as of 18 September 2017

2018

[edit]

The second edition was held in Chicago from 21 to 23 September 2018, at the United Center. Team Europe defeated Team World 13–8.

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Switzerland Roger Federer 2
Serbia Novak Djokovic 3
Germany Alexander Zverev 5
Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov 7
Belgium David Goffin 11
United Kingdom Kyle Edmund 16
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
South Africa Kevin Anderson 9
United States John Isner 10
Argentina Diego Schwartzman 14
United States Jack Sock 17
Australia Nick Kyrgios 27
United States Frances Tiafoe 40
  • Singles rankings as of 17 September 2018

2019

[edit]
2019 Laver Cup at the Palexpo

The third edition was held in Geneva from 20 to 22 September 2019, at the Palexpo. Team Europe defeated Team World 13−11.

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Spain Rafael Nadal 2
Switzerland Roger Federer 3
Austria Dominic Thiem 5
Germany Alexander Zverev 6
Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas 7
Italy Fabio Fognini 11
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
United States John Isner 20
Canada Milos Raonic 24
Australia Nick Kyrgios 27
United States Taylor Fritz 30
Canada Denis Shapovalov 33
United States Jack Sock 210
  • Singles rankings as of 16 September 2019

2021

[edit]

The fourth edition was held in Boston from 24 to 26 September 2021, at the TD Garden.[15] Team Europe defeated Team World 14−1.

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Russia Daniil Medvedev 2
Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas 3
Germany Alexander Zverev 4
Russia Andrey Rublev 5
Italy Matteo Berrettini 7
Norway Casper Ruud 10
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime 11
Canada Denis Shapovalov 12
Argentina Diego Schwartzman 15
United States Reilly Opelka 19
United States John Isner 22
Australia Nick Kyrgios 95
  • Singles rankings as of 20 September 2021

2022

[edit]
Team World gets their first win at the 2022 Laver Cup.

The fifth edition was held in London from 23 to 25 September 2022, at the O2 Arena.

This tournament marked the retirement of Roger Federer.[16] Team World defeated Team Europe for the first time by a margin of 13−8.

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Norway Casper Ruud 2
Spain Rafael Nadal* 3
Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas 6
Serbia Novak Djokovic 7
United Kingdom Andy Murray 43
Switzerland Roger Federer* nr
Italy Matteo Berrettini* 15
United Kingdom Cameron Norrie* 8
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
United States Taylor Fritz 12
Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime 13
Argentina Diego Schwartzman 17
United States Frances Tiafoe 19
Australia Alex de Minaur 22
United States Jack Sock 128
  • Singles rankings as of 19 September 2022
  • nr = not ranked
  • * = Federer and Nadal only played a doubles match on Day 1, and were replaced by alternates Berrettini and Norrie from Day 2.

2023

[edit]

The sixth edition was held in Vancouver from 22 to 24 September 2023, at Rogers Arena. Team World defeated Team Europe 13−2.

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Andrey Rublev 6
Norway Casper Ruud 9
Poland Hubert Hurkacz 16
Spain Alejandro Davidovich 25
France Arthur Fils 44
France Gaël Monfils 142
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
United States Taylor Fritz 8
United States Frances Tiafoe 11
United States Tommy Paul 13
Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime 14
United States Ben Shelton 19
Argentina Francisco Cerúndolo 21
  • Singles rankings as of 18 September 2023

2024

[edit]

The seventh edition will be held in Berlin from 20 to 22 September 2024, at Uber Arena.

Team Europe
Captain: Sweden Björn Borg
Player Rank
Spain Carlos Alcaraz 3
Germany Alexander Zverev 4
Daniil Medvedev 5
Norway Casper Ruud 8
Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas 12
Spain Rafael Nadal 161
Team World
Captain: United States John McEnroe
Player Rank
Australia Alex de Minaur 6
United States Tommy Paul 11
United States Taylor Fritz 13
United States Ben Shelton 14
United States
  • Singles rankings as of 22 July 2024

Records and statistics

[edit]

Tournament editions

[edit]
Year Winner Score Runner-up Location Venue
2017 Team Europe 15–9 Team World Prague, Czech Republic O2 Arena
2018 Team Europe 13–8 Team World Chicago, United States United Center
2019 Team Europe 13–11 Team World Geneva, Switzerland Palexpo
2020 no competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Team Europe 14–1 Team World Boston, United States TD Garden
2022 Team World 13–8 Team Europe London, United Kingdom The O2 Arena
2023 Team World 13–2 Team Europe Vancouver, Canada Rogers Arena
2024 Berlin, Germany Uber Arena
2025 San Francisco, United States Chase Center

Team statistics

[edit]
Team Matches (points) won Laver
Cups
won
Day 1 (1 point) Day 2 (2 points) Day 3 (3 points) Total
Sgl Dbl Total Sgl Dbl Total Sgl Dbl Total Sgl Dbl Total
Team Europe 13 (13) 1 (1) 14 (14) 12 (24) 3 (6) 15 (30) 6 (18) 1 (3) 7 (21) 31 (55) 5 (10) 36 (65) 4
Team World 5 (5) 5 (5) 10 (10) 6 (12) 3 (6) 9 (18) 4 (12) 5 (15) 9 (27) 15 (29) 13 (26) 28 (55) 2

Captains statistics

[edit]
Captain Team Nat First
year
Last
year
Laver Cups
App Won
Björn Borg Europe Sweden 2017 2024 6 4
John McEnroe World United States 2017 2024 6 2
Andre Agassi World United States 2025
Yannick Noah Europe France 2025

Players

[edit]

Records

[edit]
Record Record holder(s)
Most appearances 4 Switzerland Roger Federer, United States John Isner, Australia Nick Kyrgios,
United States Jack Sock, United States Frances Tiafoe, Germany Alexander Zverev
Most Laver Cups won 4 Germany Alexander Zverev
Most total matches played 16 United States Jack Sock
Most singles matches won 6 Switzerland Roger Federer, Germany Alexander Zverev
Most doubles matches won 9 United States Jack Sock
Most total matches won 10 United States Jack Sock
Best win percentage (minimum 6 matches) 73% Germany Alexander Zverev
Most singles points won 15 Switzerland Roger Federer
Most doubles points won 19 United States Jack Sock
Most total points won 20 United States Jack Sock
Best tournament performance (points W–L) 7–0 Switzerland Roger Federer (2017)

Statistics

[edit]

Players are sorted by points win–loss. Players who are no longer active are shown in italics.

Player Team Nat First
year
Last
year
Laver Cups MP Matches win–loss Points win–loss
App Won Sgl Dbl Total W% Sgl Dbl Total
Jack Sock World United States 2017 2022 4 1 16 1–3 9–3 10–6 63% 1–4 19–5 20–9
Roger Federer Europe Switzerland 2017 2022 4 3 12 6–0 2–4 8–4 67% 15–0 3–8 18–8
Alexander Zverev Europe Germany 2017 2024 4 4 11 6–1 2–2 8–3 73% 14–2 4–4 18–6
John Isner World United States 2017 2021 4 0 12 2–5 4–1 6–6 50% 5–11 10–2 15–13
Frances Tiafoe World United States 2017 2023 4 2 8 2–3 3–0 5–3 63% 5–4 5–0 10–4
Félix Auger-Aliassime World Canada 2021 2023 3 2 6 2–2 2–0 4–2 67% 4–3 5–0 9–3
Nick Kyrgios World Australia 2017 2021 4 0 9 1–4 3–1 4–5 44% 2–9 5–2 7–11
Taylor Fritz World United States 2019 2024 3 2 4 3–1 0–0 3–1 75% 7–1 0–0 7–1
Stefanos Tsitsipas Europe Greece 2019 2024 3 2 7 3–1 1–2 4–3 57% 4–3 2–5 6–8
Rafael Nadal Europe Spain 2017 2024 3 2 7 2–1 1–3 3–4 43% 4–3 2–4 6–7
Andrey Rublev Europe Russia 2021 2023 2 1 6 1–1 2–2 3–3 50% 1–2 5–4 6–6
Ben Shelton World United States 2023 2024 1 1 3 1–0 2–0 3–0 100% 1–0 5–0 6–0
Matteo Berrettini Europe Italy 2021 2022 2 1 5 2–0 1–2 3–2 60% 3–0 2–4 5–4
Novak Djokovic Europe Serbia 2018 2022 2 1 5 1–2 1–1 2–3 40% 2–5 2–1 4–6
Casper Ruud Europe Norway 2021 2024 3 1 3 3–0 0–0 3–0 100% 4–0 0–0 4–0
Kevin Anderson World South Africa 2018 2018 1 0 3 1–1 1–0 2–1 67% 2–3 1–0 3–3
Dominic Thiem Europe Austria 2017 2019 2 2 3 2–1 0–0 2–1 67% 2–3 0–0 2–3
Daniil Medvedev Europe Russia 2021 2024 1 1 1 1–0 0–0 1–0 100% 2–0 0–0 2–0
Denis Shapovalov World Canada 2017 2021 3 0 6 0–3 1–2 1–5 17% 0–4 1–4 1–8
Marin Čilić Europe Croatia 2017 2017 1 1 2 1–0 0–1 1–1 50% 1–0 0–3 1–3
Alex de Minaur World Australia 2022 2024 1 1 2 1–0 0–1 1–1 50% 1–0 0–2 1–2
Grigor Dimitrov Europe Bulgaria 2018 2018 1 1 2 1–0 0–1 1–1 50% 1–0 0–2 1–2
David Goffin Europe Belgium 2018 2018 1 1 2 1–0 0–1 1–1 50% 1–0 0–2 1–2
Tommy Paul World United States 2023 2024 1 1 2 0–1 1–0 1–1 50% 0–2 1–0 1–2
Francisco Cerúndolo World Argentina 2023 2023 1 1 1 1–0 0–0 1–0 100% 1–0 0–0 1–0
Kyle Edmund Europe United Kingdom 2018 2018 1 1 1 1–0 0–0 1–0 100% 1–0 0–0 1–0
Hubert Hurkacz Europe Poland 2023 2023 1 0 3 0–1 0–2 0–3 0% 0–2 0–5 0–7
Sam Querrey World United States 2017 2017 1 0 3 0–2 0–1 0–3 0% 0–5 0–2 0–7
Tomáš Berdych Europe Czech Republic 2017 2017 1 1 3 0–1 0–2 0–3 0% 0–2 0–4 0–6
Milos Raonic World Canada 2019 2019 1 0 2 0–2 0–0 0–2 0% 0–5 0–0 0–5
Andy Murray Europe United Kingdom 2022 2022 1 0 2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0% 0–1 0–3 0–4
Reilly Opelka World United States 2021 2021 1 0 2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0% 0–1 0–3 0–4
Gaël Monfils Europe France 2023 2023 1 0 2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0% 0–1 0–2 0–3
Diego Schwartzman World Argentina 2018 2022 3 1 3 0–3 0–0 0–3 0% 0–3 0–0 0–3
Arthur Fils Europe France 2023 2023 1 0 2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0% 0–1 0–1 0–2
Cameron Norrie Europe United Kingdom 2022 2022 1 0 1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0% 0–2 0–0 0–2
Alejandro Davidovich Europe Spain 2023 2023 1 0 1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0% 0–1 0–0 0–1
Fabio Fognini Europe Italy 2019 2019 1 1 1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0% 0–1 0–0 0–1
Carlos Alcaraz Europe Spain 2024 2024 0 0 0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
Player Team Nat First Last App Won MP Sgl Dbl Total W% Sgl Dbl Total

Participating nations

[edit]
Nation Team Number of players
2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total Diff.
Argentina World 1 1 1 1 4 2
Australia World 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 2
Austria Europe 1 1 2 1
Belgium Europe 1 1 1
Bulgaria Europe 1 1 1
Canada World 1 2 2 1 1 7 3
Croatia Europe 1 1 1
Czech Republic Europe 1 1 1
France Europe 2 2 2
Germany Europe 1 1 1 1 1 5 1
Greece Europe 1 1 1 1 4 1
Italy Europe 1 1 1 3 2
Norway Europe 1 1 1 1 4 1
Poland Europe 1 1 1
Russia Europe 2 1 1 4 2
Serbia Europe 1 1 2 1
South Africa World 1 1 1
Spain Europe 1 1 1 1 2 6 3
Switzerland Europe 1 1 1 1 4 1
United Kingdom Europe 1 2 3 3
United States World 4 3 3 2 3 4 3 22 8
Total 12 12 12 12 14 12 10 84 39

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Laver Cup to become an annual event". Laver Cup. 2018-07-10.
  2. ^ "Laver Cup is our Ryder Cup, says Novak Djokovic". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  3. ^ a b "How Laver Cup Works". Laver Cup. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  4. ^ "In Laver Cup's Debut, Europe Towers Over the World". New York Times. 2017-09-21.
  5. ^ Clarey, Christopher (2017-09-24). "A Promising Debut for the Laver Cup, Buoyed by Two Timeless Stars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  6. ^ "Tennis: Laver Cup becomes official ATP event". Reuters. 2019-05-24.
  7. ^ Tignor, Steve. "In Laver Cup, and now ATP Cup, the super-tiebreaker is having its day". Tennis.com. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  8. ^ "Tournament Schedule". Laver Cup. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  9. ^ "Dynamic Doubles Duo: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal to team up in inaugural Laver Cup". Tennis.com. 2016-08-24.
  10. ^ "In Spirit Of Ryder Cup, A Competition To Honor Rod Laver". New York Times. 2016-01-29.
  11. ^ "What is the Laver Cup, why are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal playing and how excited should we be about it?". The Telegraph. 2017-09-20.
  12. ^ "Borg and McEnroe to extend Laver Cup rivalry". Laver Cup. 2019-09-22.
  13. ^ "Breaking the boundaries: Laver Cup embraces innovation". Laver Cup. 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  14. ^ "Team Europe wins Laver Cup after epic Federer victory". Laver Cup. 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  15. ^ "Laver Cup Boston 2020 moved to 2021". Laver Cup. 2020-04-17.
  16. ^ "Roger Federer bids emotional farewell in doubles defeat alongside Rafael Nadal". The Guardian. 24 September 2022.
[edit]