The six-man workforce tennis occasion, co-founded by Roger Federer and that includes Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, takes over Rogers Area Sept. 22-24.
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Roger Federer is coming to Rogers Area and bringing some pals.
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The 20-time Grand Slam singles champion, who retired from competitors final 12 months, is the co-founder of the Laver Cup and he’s slated to be available when the 2 six-man groups duel within the newest incarnation of the occasion on the downtown Vancouver rink Sept. 22-24.
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The shall be a ceremony on opening evening to rejoice the primary anniversary of Federer’s final aggressive match, which got here eventually 12 months’s Laver Cup on the 02 Area in London, England.
The Laver Cup is the brainchild of Federer and his agent, Tony Godsick, who had been trying to each honour tennis nice Rod Laver and still have an occasion akin to the Ryder Cup, the lads’s golf competitors between groups from Europe and the U.S.
It’s Crew Europe vs. Crew World for the Laver Cup, with the squads captained by Bjorn Bjorg and John McEnroe, respectively.
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That is the sixth 12 months of the competitors.
“Followers can count on tennis like they’ve by no means seen earlier than,” stated Laver Cup CEO Steve Zacks. “You’ll see gamers cheering on their groups from the sidelines. You’ll see doubles groups you’ve by no means seen earlier than. It’s on a black court docket, with nice lighting.
“It’s completely distinctive expertise.”
Listed here are 5 others issues to look at for with the event:
1. Canadian Auger-Aliassime headlines Crew World
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime (ranked No. 15) is a part of Crew World, together with Individuals Taylor Fritz (No. 9), Frances Tiafoe (No. 10), Tommy Paul (No. 14) and Ben Shelton (No. 46), in addition to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo (No. 20).
Auger-Aliassime performed final 12 months for the McEnroe workforce that received the Laver Cup 13-8 in London, as did Frtiz and Tiafoe. Paul was an alternate on the squad.
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Bjorg’s Crew Europe squad has Denmark’s Holger Rune (No. 4), Norway’s Casper Ruud (No. 5), Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 7), Russia’s Andrey Rublev (No. 8), Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz (No. 17) and France’s Gael Monfils (No. 162).
“That’s been one of the gratifying elements — that the gamers took to it instantly,” stated Zacks. “We didn’t know what to anticipate. Nor did they. We spent lots of time eager about the format, the foundations, making it so it was interesting to the gamers. They gravitated to it instantly, fashioned their groups and competed laborious.”
Canadian content material has been a continuing with the Laver Cup. This can be a third time taking part for Auger-Aliassime. Denis Shapovalov has performed in three as effectively, and Milos Raonic took half in 2019.
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2. Famed rivalry between John McEnroe and Bjorn Bjorg continues
McEnroe needed to pull out of broadcasting the US Open as a consequence of testing optimistic for COVID, in keeping with posts on his social media accounts. There’s been no phrase out of the Laver Cup organizers about any type of change involving him.
McEnroe, 64, and Bjorn, 67, have considered one of sports activities’ most storied rivalries, partially due to the contrasts in character between the fiery McEnroe and the stoic Bjorn. They met in 9 event finals, together with twice every in US Open and Wimbledon. McEnroe received 5 of these.
“McEnroe and Bjorg have been the right captains. They’ve this unimaginable historical past with one another. They’ve perhaps essentially the most iconic rivalry in tennis,” stated Zacks. “Although they competed laborious and had some robust wins and loses, they respect one another and recognize one another.
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“They actually wish to win they usually’re nice mentors to those gamers. That’s one more reason why the gamers take pleasure in enjoying: to have the ability to spend per week being mentored by these two legends.”
3. Black court docket a part of Laver Cup trademark
Zacks says the Laver Cup went to the black court docket as a result of organizers wished the occasion to be “distinct.”
“Plenty of the tournaments have the color they’re related to. Whenever you consider Wimbledon, you consider inexperienced. Whenever you consider the French Open, there’s the purple clay,” he continued. “We had been on the lookout for our distinctive place and we additionally knew that it was a premium occasion and we gravitated to black.
“We weren’t certain if we might do it. Once we first got here up with it, the primary query was, ‘Why does this not exist already?’ It’s difficult for the lighting and to make it actually wealthy. We created and examined our personal paint color to lastly get it to a spot the place we had been snug doing it. We launched it and now it’s a part of our signature.”
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4. Negotiations to come back to Vancouver began in 2018
The Laver Cup is in several metropolis yearly. They rotate between Europe and remainder of the world yearly.
Zacks says that organizers began speaking with people in Vancouver in 2018.
“We wish to transfer it round to locations which have a wide range of completely different traits,” he stated. “Included in that could be a nice metropolis that followers will wish to go to as effectively and, the place attainable, we’re introducing the occasion to a market the place this isn’t already a significant event in place.
“We additionally knew that it is a nice time for tennis in Canada.”
The 2024 Laver Cup is ready for Mercedes-Benz Area in Berlin, Germany.
5. Open apply elevating funds for the David Foster Basis
The Laver Cup will maintain an open apply on Sept. 21, with all proceeds going to the David Foster Basis. Doorways open at 11 a.m., with Crew World hitting the court docket at 12 p.m. and Crew Europe following at 1 p.m
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The David Foster Basis is a non-profit charitable group that for the previous 37 years has assisted greater than 1,400 households with youngsters in want of main organ transplants and offered much-needed {dollars} in direct household help.
Take a look at the Laver Cup web site for ticket info.
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