Tennis

John McEnroe slams ATP's Laver Cup 'mistake' in Ryder Cup comparison


The fourth edition of the Laver Cup concluded on Sunday with yet another win for the undefeated Team Europe. The tournament was co-created by Roger Federer and his manager as a Ryder Cup-style event to see the world’s best players join forces in honour of tennis legend Rod Laver. However, the Laver Cup has struggled to shake off the ‘exhibition’ label and become a significant event in the tennis calendar, and Team World captain John McEnroe has slammed the ATP for making a “mistake” that costs the tournament a Ryder Cup-level of status.

The Laver Cup was launched back in 2017, created as a collaboration between of Roger Federer, his TEAM8 management company, former Davis Cup player Jorge Paulo Lemann and Tennis Australia.

The tournament acts as the first Ryder Cup-style event in tennis, pitting players from Team Europe and Team World against one another in a three-day event, with all match wins worth one point on day one, two points on day two and three on the final day, with the first team to 13 winning.

It has picked up some momentum in recent years, becoming an official part of the ATP calendar back in 2019, but still isn’t seen as a more serious team event in the way the likes of the Davis Cup are, and received little hype in comparison to its supposed golf counterpart the Ryder Cup, with both 2021 tournaments taking place over the same weekend.

John McEnroe, the captain of Team World at all four editions so far, has since criticised the ATP and pointed out the biggest “mistake” that has stopped the Laver Cup becoming as significant to tennis as the Ryder Cup is in golf.

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