SEPT 20 - 22, 2024 | BERLIN
Team World Captain John McEnroe is assuming his Laver Cup post for a seventh and final year and the popular American intends to guide his side to a third consecutive victory before handing over the reins to countryman Andre Agassi.
“It would be great to go out on a high,” said the left-hander, who has steered his side to two wins since Laver Cup’s 2017 inception and is eager to rally his troops “one last time.”
“We play a very formidable team; we’re up against it each year,” said McEnroe, acquiescing that nine of the world’s top ten are European.
The former world No. 1 aims to get the best out of his players during the three-day event and said the format, with its escalating points system, creates a level of excitement and stress. “You can never relax and often, it comes down to that last day where more is at stake,” he said.
During his tenure, McEnroe has imparted wisdom to a slew of talented Team World players including Nick Kyrgios, John Isner, Jack Sock, Denis Shapovalov, Diego Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo, Milos Raonic, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Reilly Opelka, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton.
“They all have their own coaches, [but] you try to add that little bit during that week,” said McEnroe. “Anytime they want to ask me something, get some advice, I’d be more than happy to try to help out,” he said.
“When you try to bring a group together for a short period of time, you’ve got to feel it out and realize the guys that are going to lead a little more, the guys that want to stand back and some like to get more advice, some like to give more advice … it’s a great learning experience,” McEnroe said.
The American said his favorite Laver Cup moments are the two times Team World clinched victory and hoisted the trophy on Sunday in London 2022 and Vancouver 2023. McEnroe described Canada’s Auger-Aliassime as the “MVP” for eking out a doubles win and upsetting Novak Djokovic in singles at the O2 Arena in London, enabling the men in red to snap their streak of four Laver Cup losses.
It was “absolutely huge to finally get over the hump and win one,” McEnroe reminisced. “We were very close a couple other times,” he added, recalling encounters in Prague 2017 and Chicago 2018.
“I think we’ve always had a good team spirit,” added the Team World skipper, who was upbeat even at Boston 2021, where Team Europe triumphed 14-1. “It was closer than the score indicated,” said the American, who witnessed his team lose five of six Laver breakers that weekend.
This week, McEnroe is hoping Team Europe’s Carlos Alcaraz, otherwise one of his favorite players on the ATP Tour, has an off week. “I love Carlos, I have to admit … I hope he plays terribly this weekend. He’s the biggest breath of fresh air we’ve had in the sport in ten years.”
Beyond Berlin, Laver Cup will continue to prosper, said McEnroe, now 65. “I believe in the event,” he said, describing the decision to be part of it as “a no-brainer.”
“It’s an event that has added some spark to the tour, I think the players love it, it’s been very competitive,” he added.
After the last ball is struck on Sunday, McEnroe will step down as Captain, and the seven-time major winner said he’ll miss sharing a locker room with the players because, as a commentator, he doesn’t have the same ability to develop the mentorship and friendship he’s fostered at Laver Cup with both established competitors and rising stars.
“These players are younger than most of my kids,” he said. “As you get older, you feel like you get a little more distant from the sport itself, so that’s part of the reason I’ve really enjoyed doing this, because I just feel like a little bit more part of it for a while,” McEnroe said.
“You feel the excitement sitting on the bench at the Laver Cup, and being that close, it’s not often I get that chance anymore, very rare, actually, so I’ll miss that,” he said.
“I won’t miss the stress too much because all these guys, all 12 players and the substitute players are all very competitive, and so are the coaches,” McEnroe added.
The American will pass the Team World baton to a very capable successor in the form of Agassi, an eight-time Grand Slam champion.
“Andre is going to do a great job,” he said, describing the 54-year-old as smart, charismatic and a legend of the game.
“I played him when he was 16 or 17, he had that personality, and you just knew something big was going to happen,” McEnroe said of Agassi’s aura, even at a young age. “He has that special quality that people love,” said McEnroe, predicting that Agassi will approach captaincy in his own unique way.
“He’s probably more analytic-driven than I am…players are going to love him as well,” McEnroe said. “It’s going to be fun to watch from more of a distance the next couple of years.”
