Team Europe won its third consecutive Laver Cup held in Geneva, Switzerland after German Alexander Zverev won the final match against Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 3-6, 10-4. As a result, Team Europe defeated Team World 13-11 to lift the cup three times in a row.
Even in the 2018 edition of the Laver Cup, Zverev won the final match, leading his team to a brilliant win.
Geneva, your #LaverCup 2019 champions: #TeamEurope!@AlexZverev @rogerfederer @ThiemDomi @StefTsitsipas @RafaelNadal @fabiofogna pic.twitter.com/tkjanbSmpF
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 22, 2019
Earlier, Team Europe suffered a setback as Rafael Nadal withdrew from matches to be held on Day 3 due to a wrist injury. However, the rest of Team Europe, which included Roger Federer from Switzerland, Dominic Thiem from Austria, Alexander Zverev from Germany, Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, Fabio Fognini from Italy, and Roberto Bautista Agut from Spain showed what champions are really made up of!
Team World, meanwhile, comprised of John Isner, Jack Sock, and Taylor Fritz from the USA, Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov from Canada, and Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson from Australia.
This Laver Cup was special for tennis fans across the world because this is the only tournament where the two greatest players of all time – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play for the same side rather than against each other. The camaraderie they share among themselves and the respect they have for each other is a treat to watch.
Across the duration of the tournament, these two greats also passed on some fantastic coaching advice to their peers. The videos that were widely shared on social media shows what great ambassadors of the game they are.
Here is one in which the two are prepping up Fabio Fognini:
“No more negatives.”
No pressure @fabiofogna @rogerfederer | @RafaelNadal | #TeamEurope |#Lavercup pic.twitter.com/ly9wg4TbQT
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 20, 2019
“Team World came once again very close but we won the right points and had maybe a little bit of luck,” said Bjorn Borg – the captain of Team Europe. “I’m very proud of my team, they did a hell of a job. I’m a very happy captain.”
What is the Laver Cup?
The Laver Cup is named after Australian tennis legend Rod Laver, often considered the best tennis player ever. He is the only tennis player in history to hold the distinction of achieving a Grand Slam twice – he won all the four Grand Slams in 1962 and 1969.
The Laver Cup has two teams – Team Europe and Team World. Each team is comprised of six players and is led by a team captain, who is a legend in the world of tennis. The roles of the captain include picking up players for the matches. Currently, the captain of Team Europe is Bjorn Borg and the captain of Team World is John McEnroe.
The tournament is played over a span of three days only – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Four matches are played each day that include three singles and one doubles match.
Each match win on Friday is worth one point, on Saturday is worth two points, and on Sunday is worth three points. The team that reaches 13 points quicker is the winner of the Cup.
The Laver Cup is played on hard court in an indoor arena.
The inaugural Laver Cup was played in 2017 and was won by Team Europe 15-9. It was held in Prague, Czech Republic. The second edition of the Laver Cup was played in 2019 in Chicago, United States and was, again, won by Team Europe 13-8.
The tournament is the brainchild of tennis icon, Roger Federer who envisioned a tennis tournament similar to the Ryder Cup in golf that pits players in Europe against players from the rest of the world.
The 2020 edition of the Laver Cup is due to be held in Boston.
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