This year’s edition of Laver Cup will be historic as Team Europe (captained by Bjorn Borg) take on Team World (captained by John McEnroe). The Laver Cup was founded in 2017 and this will be the last year old rivals Borg and McEnroe will captain the respective teams.
Founder Roger Federer gave his thoughts on the pair’s contribution to the Laver Cup:
“For me it’s very much a bittersweet week with Bjorn and John because I would love them to be captains forever. At the same time, we’ve got to move with the times, I guess. It was supposed to be three years, four or two, and it ended up being seven. It’s been seven great years. Couldn’t have had better captains, to be honest.”
The new captains will be in the form of Yannick Noah who will captain Team Europe and Andre Agassi who will captain Team World.
After some withdrawals; the most notable of them being Rafael Nadal; the lineup has been finalised for the exhibition:
Team Europe
- Casper Ruud
Alternates: Jan-Lennard Struff, Flavio Cobolli.
Team World
- Alejandro Tabilo
- Francisco Cerundolo
- Ben Shelton
Which team is looking stronger?
Team Europe on paper have the higher ranked players and are the favourites despite losing the last two editions of the Laver Cup. They will be expected to dominate the singles but the doubles could be where Team World could apply the most pressure as they possess a number of proficient doubles players. Carlos Alcaraz has won two out of the four grand slams this year and will be looking to notch up his first wins at the Laver Cup in his debut tournament; motivation should be high for the Spaniard and some valuable practice on indoor hard courts is also a plus for him. It is one of his least successful surfaces. The rest of Team Europe have extremely effective games indoor and have either won the ATP Finals indoors or made the final in Casper Ruud’s case.
For Team World they come into it with some in form players in Americans Fritz and Tiafoe who are coming off the back of making the final and semi-final of the US Open respectively. They also have debutants in Tabilo and Kokkinakis who will be hungry to impress; Tabilo has had a breakthrough year. Australian Kokkinakis seems to raise his level in team events and will most likely thrive in the Laver Cup environment, similar to his compatriot and good friend Nick Kyrgios. Thanasi is also a solid doubles player and has won the Australian Open doubles with his good friend. Another player who can mix it well in doubles is Ben Shelton; the big serving American will be dangerous in both singles and doubles and like Thanasi will thrive in a team environment. Ben played college tennis in the United States and has brough a flavour of that on court as an ATP pro. Argentinian Cerundolo, like Shelton enjoyed success last year at the Laver Cup; he will be looking to impress once again this year and add to his win tally after winning his singles last year vs Davidovich Fokina.
Day 1 Preview
- Casper Ruud vs Francisco Cerundolo (H2H: 3-3): These two players have faced off 6 times but have split the wins with 3 a piece. Out of their 6 meetings only one was on indoor hard; the Paris Masters in 2023 where Francisco won 7-5, 6-4. Ruud’s level has dropped significantly at the back end of this year after a solid first half and I expect Cerundolo to win and edge this won; gaining bragging rights in the head-to-head and helping Team World draw first blood.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis (H2H: 1-1): Kokkinakis upset Tsitsipas only a few weeks ago, beating the Greek in 4 sets to level the head-to-head. Stef has had a turbulent season and seems to be searching for a way to get back to his best; as I mention previously Thanasi will love the atmosphere. I also think playing indoors suits his explosive game. It could be tight but I think Kokkinakis will get the win again and make it two wins in two to Team World after Match 2.
- Grigor Dimitrov vs Alejandro Tabilo: (H2H: 1-0): These two have only played the one time; earlier this year in Miami. It was a very tight three set match with Dimitrov coming out on top 6-7, 7-6, 6-2. I think the indoor conditions will suit Dimitrov more than the Chilean; however, in some years the Laver Cup courts have been extremely slow and that would suit clay loving Tabilo more. I think experience comes out on top in this one and Dimitrov wins this one to get Europe their first win.
- Carlos Alcaraz/Alexander Zverev vs Taylor Fritz/Ben Shelton: I don’t claim to be a doubles expert but I imagine the Americans will be the more well drilled pair. Fritz and Shelton both play more doubles than their European counterparts. However; if you cater in Zverev’s serve and consistency with Alcaraz’s explosive game and touch, it should be an entertaining matchup. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Europe get the win in this one.
My prediction at the end of Day 1 is Team Europe 2-2 Team World As for my prediction for the tournament, I think Team Europe will reclaim the Laver Cup after coming off second best in the previous two years.
Let us know your predictions in the comments below and find odds for the 2024 Laver Cup!
