World No.1 Roger Federer believes the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup has paved the way for other events to follow suit.
Named after Rod Laver, the three-day tournament sees team Europe take on team USA in a similar format to that of Golf’s Ryder Cup. Last year the event was held in Prague with all 17,000 tickets for each session selling out. Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic was some of the players who took part.
“It was amazing to team up with players who are normally your biggest rivals, and have the chance to play on the same side of the net and be members of the same team.” Said Federer.
“I play against guys like Rafa (Nadal), Marin (Cilic), Sasha (Zverev), Dom (Thiem) and Tomas (Berdych) all the time, so to have them on my side, cheering me on, giving me advice and me doing the same for them, meant so much.”
Federer, who is one of the founders of the competition, is not concerned about the future of the event despite uncertainty surrounding others similar to his. Later this year a vote will be held to decide if the Davis Cup should be changed to a week-long 18-team event. The proposal has received a $3bn backing from investment company Kosmos, but critics are arguing that the change is too dramatic. Meanwhile, the ATP is going ahead with their own plans to hold their own team tournament at the start of every season from 2020.
Speaking about the Davis Cup planned reform, 36-year-old Federer believes the changes will be a good thing. One of the main arguments for the new format is that it will help ease players’ schedules throughout the year. Although it will likely add an extra week to the season if it gets the go ahead. The 20-time grand slam champion has also credited his own Laver Cup for triggering these new ideas.
“It just takes so much out of the players to be available four weekends during the year every single year,” Federer said. “I played a lot of Davis Cup when I was younger and happy I did. I was happy it existed, but eventually it was just too much.”
“I do believe that the Laver Cup has sparked some change, some inspiration to other cups that maybe we’ll see in tennis. But that’s a good thing. We’ll take that as a sign of flattery.” He added.
New stop Chicago
This year’s Laver Cup will take place at the United Center in Chicago between September 21-23. The stadium has a seating capacity of 22,5000 which is over 5000 more than that of Pargue’s O2 Arena.
“The first tournament in Prague was very special for both the players and the fans and I can’t wait to play the Laver Cup here in the sports-mad city of Chicago.” Federer told reporters on Monday.
Presently the tournament, which features a total of 12 players and two captains, is exclusively for men. Although this could change in the future with Federer indicating that he is open for a potential mixed event.
“Down the road I’m totally open to anything,” Federer said. “I’ve heard already from women players. They would love to do it as well.”
Tickets for the 2018 Laver Cup will get on sale on March 23rd.
