A couple of weeks after the US Open is the Rod Laver Cup, an exhibition competition that is analogous to the Ryder Cup in golf, given that players from Europe compete against players from the rest of the world. Six editions of the Rod Laver Cup have been held so far, as it was not held in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. Team Europe has a 4-2 advantage.
History
The Rod Laver Cup only began seven years ago, in 2017. The host city for the tournament changes every year and rotates between Europe and the rest of the world. The tournament is typically played in cities that do not host their own ATP tournament. This year’s tournament was held in Vancouver, Canada, with the World emerging victorious over Europe. The tournament is named after the celebrated Australian player, Rod Laver, who is considered one of the best players of all time.
FUN FACT: Rod Laver is the player with the most titles in the history of tennis, with 198 tournament victories. He is also the only man to win the Grand Slam, which is when a player wins all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year, in the Open Era. The Open Era began in 1968 and it marks the year the professionals were allowed to compete against Amateurs. He actually completed the Grand Slam twice, once prior to the Open Era in 1962 and once in the Open Era in 1969.
The tournament was founded in part by Roger Federer’s management company, TEAM8. The famous Swiss player wanted to create a competition similar to the Ryder Cup in golf where American golfers compete against their European counterparts. In establishing this competition, Federer partners with former Brazilian tennis player and current billionaire Jorge Paulo Lehmann as well as Tennis Australia. John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg have served as the captains for Team World and Team Europe, respectively, at each tournament.
Credit: 2023 Getty
The first Rod Laver Cup, played in 2017, was held in the O2 Arena in Prague. Team Europe defeated Team World 15-9. Team Europe was led by the two best-ranked players in the world, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. On the other side, the best ranked American players were Sam Querrey and John Isner. Federer crowned his team’s victory in a match against Nick Kyrgios when in the final tie-break he came back from a 5-8 deficit, saved a match point and eventually won 4-6, 7-6, 11-9.
Format
There are six players on each team, and one player is the captain and it is mostly one of the tennis legends. The captains have the right to select three players while the rest of the team is determined based on their ATP rankings. The tournament lasts three days and during that time a total of 12 matches will be played, nine singles matches and three doubles matches. A victory on the first day is worth one point, on the second day two points and on the third day three points.
Each player plays one match in singles over the course of the first two days. Four players must compete over the course of the 3 doubles matches. This means that one player can compete in all three doubles matches, provided his partner is different in each match. 24 points are available to be won, so the first team to reach 13 points wins. All matches are played in two out of three sets, except the third set is played as a 10-point match tiebreak.
If the score is tied at 12-12, a final doubles match, known as the Decider, is played. This match is just one set with ad scoring and a tiebreak.
Team Europe leads 4-2
Team Europe won the inaugural tournament in 2017 by a score of 15-9. The 2018 Rod Laver Cup was played in Chicago. Novak Djokovic made his tournament debut, losing to Kevin Anderson, and Team Europe won 13-8. A year later, at the 2019 Rod Laver Cup inGeneva, Team Europe emerged victorious again, 13-11.
Team Europe won its fourth consecutive Cup in 2021 in Boston. This tournament was the first time that none of the Big Three (Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal) competed. Team Europe destroyed Team World with a final score of 14-1. Team Europe’s winning streak was finally broken in 2022 when Team World won 13-8 in London.
Credit: ATP Tour
At the 2023 Rod Laver Cup, in Vancouver, Canada, Team World won again, this time easily defeating Team Europe with a final score of 13-2. The 2024 Rod Laver Cup will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany.
Roger retired at the Rod Laver Cup
Roger Federer, who co-founded the Rod Laver Cup, chose to retire at the 2022 Rod Laver Cup. Along with Alexander Zverev, Federer is the most successful singles player at the Rod Laver Cup as both have won six matches each.
FUN FACT: Alexander Zverev has the most Rod Laver Cup titles since he was the only European player to participate in each of Team Europe’s four victories.
Federer played only one match at the 2022 Rod Laver Cup 2022, and that match was also his last match in his career. Federer played a doubles match with his biggest rival,, Rafael Nadal. The two of them were defeated in a third set tiebreaker by Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe. However, that didn’t damper the mood as the legendary Swiss player was very emotional as he ended his career. And what a career it was. Federer won 103 singles titles, including 20 Grand Slams. Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray, along with many other players, were in attendance to support him at this emotional event.
FUN FACT: Federer has the best individual performance at a tournament in the history of the Rod Laver Cup as he won his team seven points with two wins in singles and one in doubles at the inaugural 2017 tournament.
