Paris Masters director, Guy Forget has questioned the viability of the Laver Cup, the much touted team event between Europe and America, launched with fanfare by none other than the 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, especially with questions growing over the sport’s cramped season which stretches from January to November.
Forget, who had slammed Federer after the Swiss star withdrew from the event in Bercy in October as he wanted to rest after his home tournament of Basel. Forget isn’t known for mincing words and he did criticize Roger’s decision to skip the penultimate competition of the year.
“I know that some players have played this competition and they will not play it next year,” Forget said about the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup.
“They prefer to fly one hour to Prague instead of going that far. Because they see the effect of having a jet lag on their body going back to the States.”
“As to the other players, they are smart. I’m sure they will draw the consequences. So this event, I don’t want to condemn it because, on paper, it looked good. There was a good atmosphere, good matches and those who participated really played the game.”
“We thought it was good for promoting tennis.” He added, “But it did have an impact on the Basel tournament, on the Paris Masters, maybe on the following tournaments. So players are not unanimous about this event.”
“There are no ATP points. The future will tell what can come out of it. Federer promoted that event, supported it. Is this event going to continue to exist the day he will stop doing that? We’ll see. Of course, a non-official competition, when the calendar is so packed, can become a problem and Chris (Kermode) from the ATP is totally aware of that.”
