Last Updated on October 30, 2021
One of the most anticipated entertainment moments of the season by tennis fans has finally arrived: today, September 24, the Laver Cup will begin, this year staged in Boston in the United States. The friendly tournament created in 2016, which pits Team Europe and the Rest of the World against each other, is always very followed by fans, although it will be curious to know its media impact given the absence of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
At the helm for Team Europe is an absolute legend of the sport: Björn Borg. The former Swedish player and world number 1 with 11 Slam titles to his credit will lead his team to yet another victory (Team Europe has always won the trophy) that this year also benefits from the presence of Matteo Berrettini, the second Italian after Fabio Fognini in the 2019 edition.
Expectations for the tournament
“He [John McEnroe] doesn’t want to lose this time again.”
Team Europe Captain Bjorn Borg is ready for a challenge in Boston.#LaverCup pic.twitter.com/hzpQUhAypl
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 24, 2021
During the presentation of the team, Borg spent words of esteem for his players in view of this appointment.
During the team presentation press conference, Team Europe captain Björn Borg revealed his expectations: “First of all, I want to say that I am very happy to have my team here.
They represent the future of tennis. We are ready to be together in a team spirit and we already want to play this weekend. It doesn’t matter who plays because the competition will be very tough and all six of them are great tennis players.
Team World also has a good team and they will definitely try to beat us this time. I think it will be an interesting competition and there will be good matches. Every victory is very important and that’s why we will try to defend our title.
“In the previous editions” – he continued -,” the matches were great, there was good tennis and, as I said, Team World has a great team again. In Geneva, I think we were a little bit lucky because the matches were very close, but we handled it very well and we will try to do that again.
I’m very happy for Casper Ruud – who will open the tournament for Team Europe – and I’m glad to have him on the team. He had a great summer – he did very well. Now he is top 10 and has a great future.
Beyond his particular case, I think all six players will know what they need to do on the court ” – Borg concluded.
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Player expectations from the tournament
Former world No. 13 Nick Kyrgios talked about the emotions he feels when he competes in the Laver Cup.
“Usually I don’t cry after losses, but here I had some really hard ones – against Roger in Prague, Jack had to calm me down at that point. You really get a lot of emotions here that you don’t get when you play other tournaments.”
Prague played host to the first Laver Cup in 2017. The Australian lost to Federer in the last match of the tournament, 4-6, 7-6, 11-9.
An early entry for Team Europe’s most valuable player, @AndreyRublev97.#LaverCup | @moetchandon | #MoetMoment pic.twitter.com/yoIFIxh1cG
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 24, 2021
World number five Andrey Rublev, who starts today at the Laver Cup, answered the question from whom in the European team he expects help and advice.
“Everyone on the team knows how to play, knows the inner kitchen, our feelings, how each player will feel. We can all give advice if we notice something from the outside. Besides, we have legends like Bjorn and Thomas, they know everything better than we do. So in that sense everything is awesome.