Laver Cup: Federer, Nadal, Borg and McEnroe join forces to honour ‘the Rocket’

When a launch brings together the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg at 9am to one room, in one luxury hotel in the heart of Manhattan, the subject must be quite a big one.

And these four, who between them have won 49 singles Grand Slam titles, had dressed the part for this rather special press conference: Every one of them was dressed in his best bib and tucker, the picture of elegance.

For the object of their attention, though not big in physical stature, certainly is big in the annals of tennis. Rod Laver, known in his heyday as ‘the Rocket’, is a slight man of just 5ft 8in, and is now 78 years old, but many—including the quartet gathered in his honour—believe him to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

The quietly spoken and modest Laver has 11 singles Majors of his own, along with many more in doubles, and would have had a lot more had the tennis tour not split into professional and amateur branches during the 1960s when the Australian was at his peak. He won his first calendar Grand Slam in 1962, then completed a second after tennis finally went ‘Open’ in 1969, and in between, he won eight Pro Slams from 14 finals.

This remarkable coming together in New York was the fruition of a concept announced by Federer and his agent Tony Godsick at this year’s Australian Open.

The Swiss star explained:

“Rod Laver is someone I’ve always thought was very inspiring. I think it’s important to leave a legacy for the legends, and Rod Laver to me stands out because of his achievements and his character. And that’s when the idea came of the Laver Cup.”

And so the new competition was born, and while there were a few raised eyebrows at a three-day tournament being squeezed into an already-packed annual tennis calendar—and potentially clashing with the semi-finals of the venerable team competition, the Davis Cup—it is now hard to see how the venture, as outlined by this ‘famous five’ of tennis, could fail to attract huge public interest.

First, as Federer and Nadal were keen to point out, the format would allow the biggest rivals of our age not just to play on the same team—for Europe—but to play doubles together.

First Nadal:

“Well, I always loved the team spirit, and gonna be very special to be on the same team with Roger. We have been rivals for all our career, so be in the same team and even play some doubles together will be something very, very special.”

Then Federer:

“To be on the same side of the net as Rafa—finally!—is a great feeling and not facing the big forehand. I can actually support it and say, ‘Hit one more,’ and take joy out of it. I can’t wait to play doubles with Rafa at the Laver Cup and just sitting sideline and really wanting Rafa to hit one good shot after another.”

Add into the equation another much-admired rivalry of the Open era between Borg and McEnroe, who will captain the Europe and Rest-of-the-World teams. They played each other 22 times, 14 on the main tour, and split their wins down the middle.

But just like Federer and Nadal, their rivalry has not got in the way of mutual respect. McEnroe put it thus:
“Bjorn and I are great friends. He’s the only guy I still get along with that I played against, which is a good thing!”

The one thing that all four have in common, though, sat between them: Laver.

Federer:

“I have always admired John and Bjorn in a big way, even though they came before the guys I used to see on TV, but if I talk about my favourite players, John and Bjorn definitely were—and of course Rod is the icon in the room.”

Nadal:

“My uncle [and coach] has big passion for Rod, no? So when I was a kid, he always was talking to me about all Rod did for the game and all the years that he was taking part in the professional part so he couldn’t play the Grand Slams… so for me is a real honour to be part of this event that has his name.”

Borg:

“[Laver] was my idol when I was a kid, when I was seven, eight years old. I always respected him as a player, as a person… So to sit here with Laver, and he has this new championship event, Laver Cup, I think it’s a dream come true.”

McEnroe:

“Ultimately Rod Laver was my idol growing up, and I tried to emulate him and play like him. So I’m very happy to be part of this and proud that I’m going to captain and hopefully pull off a great upset against Europe next year.”

So how will this event be played?

Where and when
The first Laver Cup will be played on indoor hard courts at the O2 arena in Prague on 22-24 September 2017, and will take place at different locations annually except for Olympic years.

Team selection
Each team comprises six players. Four are selected on ranking via a results-based formula. The remaining two players are selected by the team captains, who also decide the singles order and the composition of the doubles pairs.

The format
The competition will be played on a single hard court over three days, with three singles and a doubles match played each day: Best of three sets, with a first-to-10 tie-break in the third. If the competition is tied after 12 matches, a tiebreaking doubles match will determine the winner.

The scoring
Each match win will be worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday. The team with the highest number of points wins the Laver Cup.

More essentials
Federer and Nadal are committed to compete for Europe.

Borg will captain Europe and McEnroe will lead The World for the first three years of the competition.

Players will not receive appearance fees or ranking points.

Federer concluded the launch with a tribute to Laver:

“Rod Laver represents everything that is great about the sport of tennis, and it’s a privilege to be able to honour his achievements through the Laver Cup.”

But it seems appropriate to leave the final word to the man himself:

“It’s amazing. You know, it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Rafa and Roger, and to know that they’re going to be in the very first one and from there, all of the best players in the world will have that opportunity to be able to compete. So I’m honoured. I really am.”

Laver looked, for much of the press conference, like a man who could hardly believe his own luck, but luck, of course, had nothing to do with it.