Team Europe Beat Team World in First Ever Laver Cup

September 24, 2017 Read Scoops Sports Scoops, Tennis Scoops 0

On 22nd September 2017, the ‘Laver Cup‘ began – a tennis tournament like none other before. As the name suggests, the tournament was named after Australian tennis legend Rod Laver, who was widely regarded as one of the greatest to play the game of tennis.

This was the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup that was played over a period of 3 days, between two teams – Team Europe and Team World. The former consists of 6 players from Europe while the latter consists of 6 players from other parts of the globe.

Teams

  1. Team Europe – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev & Tomas Berdych. The team will be captained by Swedish legend Björn Borg for the first three years.
  2. Team World – Sam Querrey, John Isner, Denis Shapovalov, Frances Tiafoe, Nick Kyrgios, Jack Sock. The team will be captained by US legend John McEnroe for the first three years.

Read Scoops Laver Cup

Venue & Format

The first edition was played at the O2 Arena in Prague, but the tournament is set to be played at different venues over the next few editions. The format is slightly different than tennis games you watch throughout the year:

The two teams (Europe and World) took on each other in both singles and doubles matches across the three days of the tournament. One Day 1, each match won gave the winning team 1 point; on Day 2, each match won gave the winning team 2 points; on Day 3, each match won gave the winning team 3 points.

The games played were all three setters and if the teams were 1-set all, the third set would be a tie-breaker, where the first to 10 points will win the set. Coming in to Day 3, Team Europe were leading 9-3, and the first team to reach 13 points was to be declared winners of the first Laver Cup. If they ended at 12-12 (since there are 24 points up for grabs), there would be a tie-breaking game.

Federer-Nadal partnership

As both the world’s #1 and #2 ranked players (Nadal & Federer) were a part of the same team, we were treated to an amazing match of tennis where Rafa & The Swiss Maestro teamed up to play Sam Querrey & Jack Sock of Team World.

It was a true treat for tennis fans, watching these two legends play on the same side of the court for once, as we’ve always been used to watching them battle it out from opposite ends. They won and like major headlines said “Watching them play together was like poetry in motion.”

However, the duo ruled out the chance of a full time partnership between them:

  • Nadal: “It was unforgettable for both of us after the history we have behind us as rivals.”
  • Federer: “For me personally it was a great moment too. After this we’ll be rivals again.”

Final Day – Team Europe win

Team Europe needed just 4 points to win on the final day, while Team World needed 10. The day began with Sock/Isner beating Berdych/Cilic and grabbing three crucial points, taking the total score to 9-6 in favour of Team Europe.

Alexander Zverev then took on Sam Querrey and there wasn’t much in this game with the German lad winning 6-4, 6-4 and taking Europe one win away from winning the inaugural Laver Cup. The leaderboard then stood at 12-6 in favour of Team Europe.

While many would’ve thought it’s all over, Team World struck back yet again with John Isner beating Rafael Nadal 7-5, 7-6, and taking the score up to 12-9. The final scheduled game was between Roger Federer & Nick Kyrgios, with the promise of being a thriller.

Federer lost the first set but came back to win the second and then win the match tie-break as well. The last 25-30 minutes saw some intense tennis being played but it was the champion Roger Federer who came out victorious and what a sight it was seeing that team in blue hug each other in celebration. Team Europe – champions of the first ever Laver Cup.