It has been confirmed that a new team event inspired by the Ryder Cup will begin in 2017 on the men’s tour.
The event will be called the Laver Cup, in honor of 11-time Grand Slam champion Rod Laver. The event will consist of two teams of six players (Europe and the rest of the world). The 3-day event will select four players per team based on their ranking and then an additional two in what will be called the ‘captains pick’.
It is understood that there will not fixed venue for the tournament, similar to the Davis Cup. It will occur annually in September, except during an Olympic year. The first edition of the event will take place at a yet to be confirmed European indoor venue according to the New York Times.
The purposed team tournament was created by Team8, the agency which represents Roger Federer. The original idea of honoring Laver came from Federer himself. Speaking about the new event on Wednesday, the 34-year-old discussed why he thinks it is important to honor sporting legends such as Laver.
“Rod Laver is someone I’ve always thought was very inspiring,” Federer said on Wednesday.
“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 everything. And that’s when the idea came of the Laver Cup, to name a cup after him and to also have captains which then lead a team of today’s players.”
The event has been backed by Tennis Australia and Jorge Paulo. Paulo is a Brazilian Investor who was named by Forbes as Brazil’s richest man in 2015 with a net worth of $21.30 billion.
Speaking about having an event named after him, 77-year-old Laver spoke of his support for the event.
It’s just a great honor that my name is going to be on this,” Laver said
“I think all the European players now, they seem to be in the driver’s seat, but I think it will be a fair competition, and I think it will be very competitive. It’s a unique concept in tennis. It’s in golf, and it’s been successful anytime they’ve done it with the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. I’ve never seen those events live, but I’ve watched them on television, and it seems to bring out the nerves.”
The event will consist of three singles matches and one doubles. Participating players will receive prize money, however, they will receive no appearance fees. There is yet to be any comments from other players concerning the proposed event.
