LAVER CUP 2022. As the Laver Cup kicks off this weekend, Roger Federer has announced that he won’t be playing singles, but potentially doubles.
The Swiss confirmed the words of his physical trainer this Tuesday, September 20, explaining that he should simply play doubles with his friend and rival Rafael Nadal. I trained on Monday with Stefanos (Tsitsipas) and, honestly, I find myself hitting the ball very well. But no, I won’t play singles, it’s impossible, he told Le Temps newspaper. This is also why I gave up going to the Swiss Indoors in Basel. I think I’m going to play the double on Friday night. I think I manage to play at an acceptable level, but it’s been a long time since I played a real game, it’s going to come out hard and the pressure will be high. But if I don’t play, it won’t be a problem. The main thing is that I can thank the fans and that they can see me. I have always been accessible, present, and I want to be until the end. Federer also made it clear that he saw himself ending his career by sharing a doubles with his eternal rival, Rafael Nadal: “Maybe I can play doubles with Rafa (Nadal), it would be an absolute dream.”
“Roger will probably decide at the last moment if he plays. He will gather as much information as possible in training to find out if it’s a good idea or not,” Pierre Paganini said a few days ago in an interview with to the Swiss-German daily Blick.
The Laver Cup 2022 is the fifth edition of the tournament which pits Europe against the rest of the world. This year, the selected players will compete in the Laver Cup from Friday September 23 to Sunday September 25, 2022.
If the 2021 edition of the Laver Cup took place at the TD Garden in Boston (United States), the Laver Cup 2022 will take place at the O2 Arena in London (England). The editions take place alternately in Europe and in the rest of the world.
During the Laver Cup, twelve players (six per team) from Europe and the rest of the world are selected by captains Bjorn Borg (Europe) and John McEnroe (rest of the world). For the 2022 edition, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be present on the European side while for the rest of the world, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Diego Schwartzman and Taylor Fritz have been chosen.
During the Laver Cup, two teams compete against each other: Europe and the rest of the world.
A sort of tennis Ryder Cup, the Laver Cup is a clash between Europe and the rest of the world. Its name refers to tennis legend, Rod Laver. The Laver Cup 2022 is the fifth edition. Each team consists of six players, two of which are chosen by the captain (Bjorn Borg for Europe and John McEnroe for the rest of the world), the other four players qualify by their ATP ranking.
On the program of the Laver Cup: three singles matches and one doubles match over three days. If first day matches are worth 1 point, second day matches are worth 2 points, and third day matches are worth 3 points. The matches take place in 2 sets with, possibly, a long tie-break of 10 points in the event of a tie. The first team to score 13 points out of a possible 24 is declared the winner. In the event of a tie at 12-12, the teams decide after a decisive doubles match in one set.
During the Laver Cup, each player is required to play at least one singles match during the first 2 days and a player cannot play more than 2 singles matches during the 3 days. For doubles matches, at least 4 players per team must play and a pair can only be selected once (except in case of 12-12).
On the Laver Cup list, Europe won the first four editions (2020 was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
Holder of the Laver Cup TV rights, BeIn Sports has been broadcasting the event since the first edition.
During the three-day competition, the six players selected by the captains (Bjorn Borg for Europe and John McEnroe for the rest of the world) compete in singles and doubles matches. Here is the schedule for the Laver Cup 2022:
