MAC SWEARS HIS HEART ON HIS SLEEVE
JOHN McENROE’S swearing inspired Team World to their first win at the Laver Cup as the Fab Four flopped on Roger Federer’s farewell.
And the Swiss superstar reckons Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic are on “borrowed time” at the end of their careers.
On a dramatic final day, American Frances Tiafoe saved four match points against Stefanos Tsitipas before securing the 13-8 victory for Team World. They had trailed Team Europe 8-4 overnight.
So McEnroe (receiving the trophy from Rod Laver, above) celebrated a first win with his squad after losing the first four events as Team World captain since 2017.
And US Open semi-finalist Tiafoe (below) said: “Our captain Johnny Mac was tired of losing.
“He was dropping a lot of F-bombs, saying we need to get it done this year, on his fifth try. This is big – we will celebrate big till 6.20am!” McEnroe, who danced on London’s O2 court in celebration, added: “Nobody beats Team World five years in a row!
“This is a great young group of guys we have got here. Frances is prime time – he loves this stuff. I got news for you: these guys are going to step up big time in the future.”
After teenager Carlos Alcaraz won the US Open to become the youngestever world No.1, this weekend was part of the changing of eras after Federer made his tearful farewell on Friday. “I have enjoyed every minute,” said the 20-time Grand Slam winner.
“I hope I didn’t make the team lose! I think we all had flashes of our careers going by and know that we are on borrowed time.”
Team Europe won 14-1 in Boston last year without any of the Big Four playing. But here Federer and Nadal lost their Friday-night doubles together. Djokovic won his two matches on Saturday but reported an injury to his right wrist yesterday after his defeat by Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Earlier the 22-year-old and Jack Sock beat Murray and Matteo Berrettini in the opening doubles.
Murray, who had his four children watching him play for the first time yesterday, has now lost five of his last six matches after also going down in his singles match.
He said: “I’m still playing competitive tennis and physically feeling good against top players. I just need to start turning some of these tight losses and close matches into wins.”