This Friday starts the Laver Cup of tennis, the equivalent of the mythical golf riderwhere the city of Berlin will witness the clash between the European team and another representative from the rest of the world, where the big attraction will be Carlos Alcarazwho made his debut in the tournament, to help his team regain a cup won by the international team in the last two editions.
On the track of Uber Arena Some of the best rackets on the planet parade from the German capital. The Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe or the local idol Alexander Zverev They guarantee a great spectacle in an ATP-recognized tournament, even if not scored for the men’s circuit.
The competition will take place over three days, from Friday to Sunday, with four matches per day (three singles and one double), until twelve total matches are completed. All duels will be played over two rounds and, if they end in a tie, a super tiebreaker will be played where the first to reach ten points, with a difference of two over the opponent, will be awarded the win.
Not all of them are worth it. Wins achieved on Friday count for one point in the general classification; those harvested on Saturday, two points; and the one obtained on Sunday, three. The first team to get thirteen total points will take the trophy and in the event of a hypothetical tie of twelve wins, a final matchup will take place to decide the champion.
All players on each team must play at least one match, at least four of the six on each team must participate in a doubles duel, and singles cannot be played more than twice.
An original format for a cup named in honor of one of the greatest in tennis history, the Australian Rod Laverand among the advocates is another great legend: the Swiss Roger Federer.
Exactly, it is in a Laver Cupin Prague in 2022, where the Swiss retired as a professional, in a doubles match partnered by Rafa Nadal, leaving the iconic image of both crying on the bench at the end.
own nadaldue to his physical problems, was the last confirmed departure from the original cast scheduled for the tournament. And it is not alone.
Injuries also prevented the participation of the Australian of Hispanic origin Álex de Minaur and the American Tommy Paul, in addition to the previously notable absences of the Italian Jannik Sinner, world number one, or the Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The groups will be led by the same historical Björn Borg and John McEnroewho has been the captain of the European Team and the World Team since the beginning of the competition in 2017 and will finish this journey in this edition of 2024 Starting with the next one, which will be held in the American city of San Francisco, the Frenchman Yannick Noah and the American Andre Agassi will lead the blocks.
At six Laver Cups contested so far, leading Europe with four wins to two; although the rest of the world claimed the last two awards. Here, the tournament will be played on a hard surface, which will benefit serve specialists like Tiafoe, but also unknown to Carlos Alcaraz. No wonder he won his first Grand Slam – the 2022 United States Open – here.
In an interview with EFE, Alcaraz, who was the most praised by the public at the presentation of the tournament at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, said that it will be “very nice to be surrounded by the players that he usually plays against” throughout the year and that they will try to “enjoy the weekend absolutely” and “give everything to bring success to Europe, which has not been achieved in two years”, besides remembering their compatriot Nadal, whom they will “miss”.
The mastermind of the idea, Roger Federer, bet on the success of the Europeans, although what he really feels “excited”, as he himself admits, is to see Alcaraz play for the first time with the invention that he himself brought to fruition .
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Teams
Europe: Carlos Alcaraz (Spain), Alexander Zverev (Germany), Daniil Medvedev (Russia-competed without a flag), Casper Ruud (Norway), Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece). Captain: Björn Borg
Other parts of the World: Taylor Fritz (United States), Frances Tiafoe (United States), Ben Shelton (United States), Alejandro Tabilo (Chile), Francisco Cerúndolo (Argentina) and Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia). Captain: John McEnroe
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
