SEPT 20 - 22, 2024 | BERLIN
Team World Vice Captain Patrick McEnroe believes his side can clinch a third straight victory at Laver Cup 2024 despite the stacked Team Europe roster.
“I think we go in as the underdog this year,” said McEnroe on Monday as media were provided a first look at the unique black court on Uber Arena.
“We’re excited for a great event,” said the American, who cited the credentials of his six players: a trio of top Americans in Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe; a pair of pre-eminent South Americans in Francisco Cerundolo and Alejandro Tabilo, and Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who upset Team Europe’s Stefanos Tsitsipas three weeks ago at the US Open.
“We know Team Europe is coming in loaded, I’m sure they’ll have the home crowd behind them, but we’re very excited,” added McEnroe, who is stepping down from his leadership post at the conclusion of the weekend alongside his brother John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, who will be succeeded by Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah at Laver Cup San Francisco 2025.
“We’re extremely excited that we get to have our final one here, we plan on going out with a three-peat having won the last two years,” said McEnroe.
“There’s a little bit of sadness about this final one for us, because it’s been such an amazing run,” added the 58-year-old. “It’s been an unbelievable ride for us and a privilege for us to be part of this incredible event … to be part of it with Bjorn [Borg] and Thomas Enqvist has been a great experience.”
“One of the great things about Laver Cup to me has always been [that] you get 12 of the best players in the world on one court in one weekend, that’s really unique to the sport,” McEnroe added.
Laver Cup CEO Steve Zacks said he’s thrilled with the caliber of competitors landing in Berlin for the seventh edition of the event.
“We have some of the greatest players in tennis coming here, we have six of the top 10, nine of the top 20 including Carlos Alcaraz, who won two Grand Slams this year, Alexander Zverev, No. 2 in the world [and] Taylor Fritz, who was a finalist at the US Open,” Zacks said.
Uber Arena features around 11,500 seats, and Laver Cup can also be experienced from the free Fan Zone, which opens Thursday at 10am and includes an official Practice Court in Uber Eats Music Hall. Some tickets remain for the Open Practice Day on Thursday from 12pm to 2pm, as well as for some select sessions, Zacks said.
Twenty-four ballkids from the local area were selected from 350 applicants, Zacks said. “[They] will have the chance to be out there with the greatest players in the world.”
While Team Europe captured the first four editions of Laver Cup, Team World has begun to reel in their rivals, and heads into this weekend trailing 2-4.
“We got that monkey off our back with the win in London,” said McEnroe. In Berlin, the men in red will battle for success on the doubles court, which historically has been a reliable source of points.
“That’s usually a strength for our team and we’re hoping that happens again this year,” he said, acknowledging that his skilled bench includes Kokkinakis, who earned the 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles crown (with Nick Kyrgios), as well as Fritz, who collected a men’s doubles bronze medal at the Paris Olympics with Tommy Paul.
“I think we have some nice potential combinations,” McEnroe said.
Being in Berlin, one of Europe’s most history-rich cities, is “awesome,” said the American. “Tennis has always very been popular here and I think it’s terrific to come to cities that don’t normally get big time tennis.”
“We have been wanting to come to Berlin since the beginning,” said Zacks. “I think it’s going to be one of the best ever.”
