The Laver Cup is an annual international men's team tennis competition held on indoor hard courts. The event features Team Europe, comprising European players, and Team World, representing players from all continents except Europe. Established in 2017, the event aspires to mirror the Ryder Cup's significance in the tennis world.
The Laver Cup is held roughly two weeks after the US Open, changing its venue each year between European cities and locations worldwide, often bypassing cities hosting ATP Tour tournaments.
In 2019, the Laver Cup earned full ATP Tour status. Unlike typical ATP tour matches, this competition features prominent courtside coaching from teammates and captains, which distinguishes it from others.
The forthcoming Laver Cup, scheduled for September 22–24, 2023, will grace the hard indoor courts of Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada. Team World, following their first-ever victory last year, will attempt to defend their title.
Holger Rune and Stephanos Tsitsipas have recently withdrawn from the Laver Cup due to injuries. They have been replaced by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain and Arthus Fils of France.
Team Europe Laver Cup Record
Since the inception of the Laver Cup tournament in 2017, Team Europe has maintained a dominant position, except for their recent setback in 2022.
In the 2022 Laver Cup, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Team Europe was defeated by Frances Tiafoe of Team World 1-6, 7-6 (11), and 10-8. This victory helped Team World win the tournament by a score of 13-8.
The three-day tournament in London was down to its last day when John McEnroe's Team World found itself 4-8 behind the four-time champions Team Europe.
However, Team World pulled off a remarkable reversal on the third day, where each victory was worth three points. They won the Laver Cup for the first time in the tournament's history due to their outstanding effort, which helped them achieve a historic triumph.
2017
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal led Team Europe to a 15-9 victory at the first-ever Laver Cup in Prague. Federer and Nadal both triumphed in their singles matches on Day Two of the tournament before going back to play in their first doubles encounter.
In the Czech Republic's capital, the duo easily defeated Sam Querrey and Jack Sock 6-4, 1-6, 10-5. Heading into the last day of competition, Team Europe held a dominant 9-3 lead.
2018
At the 2018 Laver Cup in Chicago, Alexander Zverev scored five points for Team Europe—a feat matched only by Roger Federer. With his tournament-winning triumph over Kevin Anderson on the last day, the German finished the competition with a singles record of 2-0.
Zverev faced Anderson with Team Europe leading Team World 10-8, but Anderson got off to a faster start as he tried to force a Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios singles match with a winner-take-all outcome. However, it was Zverev who helped his team win the title.
2019
At the 2019 Laver Cup in Geneva, a winner-take-all match was required for the first time in the history of the tournament. Team World led Team Europe 11-7 after the first two matches of the last day, leaving two singles matches to be played. The visiting team would win the Laver Cup if they prevailed in either game.
Federer defeated John Isner in straight sets; this victory necessitated an important singles match between Zverev and Milos Raonic.
Zverev made a successful comeback for Team Europe for the second year in a row by handling the pressure effectively. Since Zverev and Raonic shared the first two sets, a match tie-break determined the winner of the tournament.
In the locker room, Federer and Nadal gave Zverev words of encouragement, and Zverev responded by rising to the occasion and winning the trophy despite tremendous pressure. On his first match point, the German's cross-court passing shot won him the match and the tournament title.
2020
The Laver Cup was not held in 2020 due to COVID-19.
2021
Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev won the 2021 Laver Cup for Team Europe, defeating Reilly Opelka and Denis Shapovalov of Team World 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-3 to secure their team's 14-1 triumph.
The three-day tournament had four successful seasons for Team Europe. The only match they lost that weekend was the doubles match, which John Isner and Shapovalov won.
Team World needed to win all four games to take home the trophy, so they faced a challenging assignment when they arrived at the TD Garden in Boston for the third day of the tournament. Opelka and Shapovalov put up a valiant fight to win the second set and exert pressure on their rivals, but they fell short.
Early in the match tie-break, Shapovalov produced two unforced errors, which Rublev and Zverev took full advantage of. In the 2021 Laver Cup, Team Europe prevailed in five of the six match tie-breaks.
| Team | Matches (points) Won | Laver Cups Won | |||||||||||
| Day 1 (1 point) | Day 2 (2 points) | Day 3 (3 points) | Total | ||||||||||
| Sgl | Dbl | Total | Sgl | Dbl | Total | Sgl | Dbl | Total | Sgl | Dbl | Total | ||
| Team Europe | 13 (13) | 1 (1) | 14 (14) | 11 (22) | 3 (6) | 14 (28) | 6 (18) | 1 (3) | 7 (21) | 30 (53) | 5 (10) | 35 (63) | 4 |
| Team World | 2 (2) | 4 (4) | 6 (6) | 4 (8) | 2 (4) | 6 (12) | 4 (12) | 4 (12) | 8 (24) | 10 (22) | 10 (20) | 20 (42) | 1s |
FAQs
A. The Laver Cup 2023 will be held at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada, from September 22 to 24, 2023.
A. The first Laver Cup took place in 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic.
A. Yes, Team Europe has been dominant, except in 2022, when Team World secured a historic victory.
A. Team Europe won the Laver Cup in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021.
A. The captain of Team Europe in the Laver Cup 2023 is Swedish tennis legend Björn Borg.
