Bill Simons
Two things can be true at once.
The US Open is spectacular – it sizzles. But it sure is rowdy and loud.
As for the Laver Cup, some dismiss it as just an exhibition. There are lots of appearance fees, but no ranking points.
But what a feel-good happening it is, fans love it. After all, it gets so many things, little and large, right. For starters, you can say it’s the most inventive, imaginative, impactful and successful new tennis event since the Davis Cup was created in 1900 and the Australian Open began in 1905.
Yes, there is a nice, “The meek shall inherit the earth” premise to it all. It honors Aussie legend Rod Laver, one of the most mellow and gentle of sports superstars.
More than this, at its core, the Laver Cup addresses a key problem in the game. There’s a soul-wrenching aspect to the solitary journey tennis warriors endure. As pros travel the world, they know one thing – they’ll be lonely. Even a fancy hotel room can seem like a cell. It’s best to have a resilient psyche.
The key to the Laver Cup is that it’s a brilliant antidote to all that isolation. At last you bond with your almost mortal enemies. For three days that revitalize you’re on a team – your mindset shifts. Pick your cliché: A) “We’re all in this together.” B) “One for all and all for one.” C) “It feels good to play for something bigger than yourself.”
Beyond this, the Laver Cup nails the details. Unlike many outings to tournaments, you’re certain to see a handful of great stars. Rarely do you walk away mumbling, “Well, that was a dud – 6-0, 6-1 blowouts don’t work for me.”
The Laver Cup’s gray-black court is different. The arena’s lighting will dance bright, then almost vanish. The scoring format is graduated, so matches become increasingly important. Don’t mention this to Taylor Fritz, but this way jaw-dropping comebacks, like last year’s, are more likely.
There are iconic coaches known by single names: Mac and Borg until last year – now Andre and Noah. Players, sitting on curved courtside benches, become cheerleaders and let go as they fall over each other. Way back when, San Francisco had love-ins. The Laver Cup can be a kind of tennis love-in.
You’ll see both singles and doubles and new phenoms like Joao Fonseca, who’ll draw rowdy Bay Area Brazilians. There will be America’s No. 1, Fritz, the best player to never win a Slam, Sascha Zverev, and a Spanish kid named Alcaraz who’s done okay lately.
There are open practice sessions and schmooz-with-the-stars hospitality opportunities. The Laver Cup hopscotches from non-traditional markets from Prague, Geneva and Berlin in Europe to Chicago, Boston and Vancouver in North America.
For San Franciscans the arrival of the Laver Cup promises to be a long awaited triumph. At last the town’s 31-year-old drought is over. Major league tennis hasn’t been played in San Francisco since Barry MacKay’s Volvo Open left town for San Jose in 1994. And the last time the city hosted a major tennis team competition was 1979, when the US, featuring Stanford’s John McEnroe and Vitas Geuralitis, beat Italy in the Davis Cup final. Gas was 86 cents a gallon. They grew pears in Silicon Valley, not tech giants.
So, let’s get ready to Laver! Here’s a primer on the event.
THE BASICS: Founded in 2017 by Roger Federer and his super agent Tony Godsick, the Cup will be played September 19-21 at San Francisco’s Chase Center. It has five sessions staged over three days and a total of 24 points are available. The first team to reach 13 points wins. On Friday, each match is worth one point; on Saturday, two points, and on Sunday three points. Team Europe has a 5-2 winning record over Team World.
TEAM WORLD ROSTER: In a late breaking development Friday, America’s most charismatic player, No. 29 Frances Tiafoe, pulled out and will be replaced by the far less flashy, but far higher ranked Aussie, No. 8 Alex de Minaur who reached the US Open quarterfinals.
Also in the Team World lineup are Americans Taylor Fritz (No. 5), Alex Michelsen (No. 32) and Reilly Opelka (No. 63), as well as Argentine Francisco Cerundolo (No. 21) and Brazil’s Joao Fonseca (No. 42).
BTW: the line-up is missing a few other stars we would have liked to see. Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul have pulled out and the charismatic Nick Kyrgios hasn’t played in nearly six months.
TEAM EUROPE ROSTER: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (No. 1), German Alex Zverev (No. 3), Denmark’s Holger Rune (No. 11), Norway’s Casper Ruud (No. 12), Czechia’s Jakub Mensik (No. 17) and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli (No. 25).
Team Europe has five Top-20 players. Team World has two. BTW: Jannik Sinner has never played the Laver Cup.
LAST YEAR: Team Europe came from a 8-4 deficit to regain the Cup in Berlin, 13-11, after Tiafoe and Fritz faltered.
BIGGEST STARS: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have all played. And these days you can’t get bigger than Alcaraz.
MOST POIGNANT MATCH: Roger Federer’s final pro appearance, playing doubles with Nadal and falling to Americans Tiafoe and Jack Sock.
SOCK IT TO ME: Sock has played the most Laver Cup matches, 16, and he also holds the record for the most wins, 10.
OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Until now, tennis’ prime fire-and-ice duo John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg were the team captains.
The new captains, Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah, are pretty charismatic, too. Unquestionably, no other player has done more after his playing career than McEnroe. He dominated the pro senior circuit for years, and has had success as a broadcaster, author, art collector, voice-over artist, academy owner and, (perhaps with Spike Lee) he’s New York’s prime go-to sports personality. Agassi, too, has been vastly successful as an author and broadcaster, and an education pioneer. Now he’s a pickleball whiz.
Few others have scored the wide-ranging coaching success that Noah has. He’s coached individual players like Amelie Mauresmo and Lucas Pouille. But he’s a savant as a team coach. France’s Davis Cup team won three times under his guidance. The Billie Jean King Cup team he led also prevailed and he also coached France’s Paralympic team.
He’s a huge pop star in Europe and, by the way, he kickstarted the best tennis team celebration ever. After France’s 1991 Davis Cup upset of the US, he reveled in an ecstatic conga dance with his team.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? In Brisbane Australia there’s a stadium named after Team World’s new Vice-Captain – that’s great. But what about Rocket Rod? Like Billie Jean King, Laver has a hugely important venue named for him, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, and an international competition honors him. Then again, when it comes to geological formations being named for tennis folks, there’s nothing like Henman Hill. Tim is Team Europe’s new Vice-Captain.
By the way, no offense to Simonne Mathieu, but in 2017 we think the French Open No. 3 stadium should have been named for Noah, the only Frenchman to win Roland Garros in 79 years.
MOST PROMINENT WARRIORS: With the Laver Cup being played in the Golden State Warriors’ home, the Chase Center, let’s note that old school star Rick Barry was the most tennis-happy Warrior ever. His rackets were always in the trunk of his car.
As for hoops stars in general, Kobe Bryant wrote a book on tennis, Wilt Chamberlain regularly went to matches and the Rockets’ John Lucas played both in the NBA and on the tennis circuit. Warriors from Chris Mullin to Draymond Green went to Wimbledon and Steph Curry was just at the US Open men’s final.
NEXT YEAR: The Cup will return to O2 Arena in London.
