Laver Cup has old guard in a lather
Federer event upsets tennis establishment due to its poor timing
oger Federer enjoys near saintly status in tennis, but he has managed to put plenty of noses out of joint among the game’s establishment with his Laver Cup project.
none of the ATP Tour, Wimbledon or the International Tennis Federation have welcomed this star-encrusted event landing like a blob in the midst of an already congested calendar. The ryder Cup style tournament between Team europe and Team World — created by the world’s greatest male player in honour of the man who used to hold the distinction — starts today.
It sees the sport’s two most enduring rivals, Federer and rafael nadal, on the same side for the first time. Team captains John Mcenroe and Bjorn Borg rekindle a different rivalry on the same weekend that a feature film hits the cinemas recreating their 1980 Wimbledon classic.
one by one, they lined up yesterday to deny suggestions that this is a mere exhibition, with no ranking points attached to it.
Federer emphasised that the teams are staying in different hotels, not hanging out together, and are fired up for an inaugural clash that will feature six players contesting nine singles and three doubles matches, with a possible sudden-death decider.
‘The guys all arrived a day early,’ said Federer, who has created the event with his management company.
‘We have been strategizing last night, so from our side I think we will be ready and we are giving everything we have. Without that, the fans are just going to maybe enjoy some tennis but they’re not going to get into it.’
Federer definitely needs to win over some powerful sceptics and plenty is riding on it for someone so conscious of his place in the game.
The ATP do not like this event because it goes up directly against two of their official tournaments this week in Metz and St. Petersburg.
The ITF are not keen because they feel it competes with the 117-year-old davis Cup. The respective heads of both bodies, Chris Kermode and dave Hagerty, have both declined invitations to attend.
Wimbledon were upset because they were kept completely in the dark until its announcement 18 months ago and they are not a part of it. despite that, All england Club chairman Philip Brook will attend.
Beyond Federer, the main backers are ever-innovative Tennis Australia and BrazilianSwiss brewing billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann.
Mcenroe agreed that the challenge will be to make fans and players care viscerally about the outcome, as usually happens with the davis Cup and always with golf’s ryder Cup.
‘That’s a great question and it’s something I believe can and will happen,’ said Mcenroe. ‘Ultimately, that’s going to be up to the players.
‘I’m hopeful that this is going to be successful and force some people to take a hard look at the rest of the schedule, too. With the davis Cup, they need to make some changes.’
A neutral view of the Laver Cup would be that it begins life as an exhibition but is a bright idea in a sport that has been too slow to change with the times.
What Federer and his associates will need to do is convince the top players of its worth.
novak djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei nishikori had all indicated that they would not attend before getting injured.
Andy Murray was also a very unlikely starter, regardless of his hip problems.
So what we are left with could be summed up as Anglophones against the european continent, with Mcenroe trying to make his seemingly overmatched team competitive.