Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer has become the first players to be confirmed for the brand new Laver Cup.
The Laver Cup will be an exhibition-style tournament hosted annually from 2017 featuring 12 players. Proceedings will consist of two teams headed by captains John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. Bjorg will captain the European team and McEnroe will headline the rest of the world.
Both Federer and Nadal will be in the European team and it is expected that they will play doubles together. The other remaining ten players are yet to be confirmed. In each team four players will be decided based on their position in the world rankings and then an additional two will be selected by the captains.
The three-day event will be hosted from September 22nd 2017 at the O2 Arena in Prague. It is not the first time that the 14,000 capacity venue has hosted a tennis event. In 2012 they held the Davis Cup final between the Czech Republic and France.
A total of 12 matches will take place during the inaugural event. Each day there will be three singles and one doubles matches. If the tie is level at 6-6, a deciding doubles tiebreaker will be played.
Inspired by Golf’s Ryder Cup competition, the new tournament has been billed as a tribute to tennis legend Rod Laver. During his career, Laver won 11 Grand Slam titles and twice achieved a calendar Grand Slam. The decision to dedicate the event to Laver is one that has been strongly backed by Federer.
“Rod Laver represents everything that’s great about the sport of tennis, and it’s a privilege to be able to honour his achievements through the Laver Cup.” The 35-year-old said.
“I know players will be keen to compete at the highest level under Rod Laver’s name, and enjoy the chance to team up and play alongside our fiercest competitors.”
The Laver Cup will be annually held two weeks after the US Open, expect in a summer Olympic year. It will be hosted in different locations each year.
So… What is the #LaverCup? pic.twitter.com/FlzG8anU67
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) 24 August 2016
