When tennis rivals become friends

The Laver Cup is celebrating its German premiere in Berlin. It is a successful concept that is working perfectly – despite the enormous ticket prices and the absence of the “Big 3”.

Carlos Alcaraz throws his arms up in the air, and shortly afterwards he is in the arms of his teammates, jumping around with them. The Spaniard had just won the Laver Cup for Team Europe for the first time in three years with his victory in the decisive singles match against Taylor Fritz. Such shared joy is rarely seen in the individual sport of tennis – especially among players from different nations who are otherwise rivals.

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This is exactly what makes the Laver Cup so special: “Here rivals become teammates!” was perhaps the most frequently heard statement in Berlin this weekend. The show tournament, which is taken seriously by tennis stars even without the awarding of world ranking points, has been taking place for seven years now and celebrated its German premiere this year.

Class reunion of the tennis elite in Berlin

It was an international tennis festival that Germany has not experienced for many years. The (almost complete) world elite of men’s tennis, including two-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev and US Open finalist Taylor Fritz, gathered in Berlin and gave the white sport the best possible promotion over three days.

The team spirit is an essential feature of the event. Even personal differences were forgotten for the competition days, as Daniil Medvedev did on SPORT1-Inquiry confirmed. The Russian shared a bench in Berlin with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, with whom he is known to not have a particularly good relationship.

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Rivals become friends

“We are not best friends, that is reality. But at least for me it is an easy adjustment. We support each other more than ever before, it is a funny feeling,” explained the 2021 US Open winner. And so in the end it was Medvedev and Tsitsipas, of all people, who carried Zverev to a decisive match win against Frances Tiafoe with small tips and big emotions.

At the Laver Cup, teammates regularly become the coaches of their actual rivals. During the rallies, they cheered and suffered as if they were on the court themselves. Entertainer Tiafoe could barely stay on the bench in important situations and Laver Cup debutant Alcaraz almost fell off the sofa at times.

From Nowitzki to Schweinsteiger: Star turnout in Berlin

Alternatively, you could look for famous faces in the audience – and you quickly found them. Basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki, tennis icon Boris Becker, soccer world champion Bastian Schweinsteiger were just a few names on the packed guest list in the elegant VIP area. Such a star turnout in tennis is otherwise only seen at the Grand Slams such as the US Open or Wimbledon.

Berlin celebrated a wild tennis party for three days – even without the player who was actually considered the event’s biggest draw. Rafael Nadal, who had already taken part in the Laver Cup three times before, canceled a few days before the tournament began. There were rumors that the Mallorcan could end his career in Berlin – just like his long-time companion in 2022.

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Show tournament after Nadal’s cancellation for the first time without the “Big 3″

Due to the cancellation, for the first time since the Laver Cup’s debut in 2017, no player from the “Big 3” (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, editor’s note) represented in the field of participants. Could it therefore be a seventh year of trouble for the event, which is still organized by Federer, who was virtually omnipresent on the arena’s video cube and regularly sparked storms of cheers, and his agency Team8? Not at all!

Even though sympathies for Team Europe prevailed, the fans of Team World rarely missed the opportunity to respond to the cheers of the European supporters. As soon as a fan shouted “Let’s go, Europe” into the hall, a “Come on, World!” echoed back. There’s no doubt about it, this weekend was “tennistainment” at its best!

However, anyone who wanted to be there live in the hall had to dig deep into their pockets. Tickets cost a mid-three-figure sum. Anyone who wanted to spontaneously buy a ticket on Friday would have had to shell out almost 400 euros for the day session, which, mind you, only included two singles matches. The most expensive seats on that day cost 4,000 euros.

Integration of women not an issue

Because of its sporting value, the Laver Cup has established itself in the ATP calendar. During the event, the organizers and the ATP announced an extension of their cooperation for a further five years.

The idea of ​​integrating women in the future does not seem to be in the interest of Federer & Co. at the moment. “If we were to add women, it would be something like the Hopman Cup, which already exists. I think we will continue down this path,” explained Federer’s long-time manager Tony Godsick.

However, not everything will remain the same at the next edition in San Francisco: John McEnroe and Björn Borg, two of the event’s key figures, are stepping down as team captains. Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah, who both already got an impression of the event in Berlin, will take over instead.

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.Alcaraz as a success factor for the future?

The future of the Laver Cup does not seem to be in danger even without the “Big 3” – also because the next generation of star players has long since arrived. Team Europe player Casper Ruud also emphasized this when he spoke of SPORT1 was asked about the future of the event: “You have Novak from the previous generation and then a lot of young players who really want to play. It’s funny that the youngest of us all (Alcaraz, Anm. d. Ed.) the most successful. It is a joy to watch him because he brings joy to the court. I hope he will play many more times because he lights up the arena as soon as he steps on the court.”

The 21-year-old was given the nickname “Fed05” by Team World this weekend – a reference to the fact that he played as well as Federer in the best season of his career in 2005. Sounds like a legitimate successor to the great master – also for the next episodes of the Laver Cup!