A traditional tournament called the Laver Cup will be held in Berlin later this week. This is an exhibition event where tennis players receive prizes, but no ranking points. The tournament appeared on the ATP calendar in 2017, and during all this time only two Russians played. However, if Andrei Rublev is not there this time, Daniil Medvedev will return to action.
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For Medvedev, this will be his second experience at the Laver Cup. In 2021, Daniil helped the European team defeat the world team 14:1. The Russian played only one match, in singles, beating Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6:4, 6:0. Medvedev was supposed to play on the third day, but three singles matches were not played due to the European team scoring the necessary number of points to win.
It is noteworthy that this match with Shapovalov was Medvedev’s first as a US Open champion. And the 6-0 in the second set became the first “shuttlecock” in the history of the entire tournament! Thus, the Russian has already gone down in the history of the Laver Cup. “After the US Open, I didn’t play for a week and a half. Normally, when there is such a break, for example, after pre-season training, it takes me about two weeks to start feeling well. But when you win a Grand Slam tournament, the state is completely different,” said Daniil on the court after the match.
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Each team will have six players, so Medvedev will have five partners. The most prestigious are four-time TBS winner Carlos Alcaraz, who is participating in the Laver Cup for the first time, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Alexander Zverev.
“For me, the most interesting thing about the Laver Cup is the team spirit, because I rarely take part in team tennis competitions. Carlos and Sasha will help our team a lot because they are two of the best players in the world. And I really want to try to get the European team back on the winning track,” the Russian said in March, according to the ATP press service. It is true that the Europeans won the first four editions of the Laver Cup, but the last two seasons have been won by the rest of the world.
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As usual, the tournament will feature not only singles matches, but also doubles. For Medvedev, playing in doubles is not a priority in his career. In 2023, he did not play a single match in this type of tennis. I wonder if they will put Daniil in a doubles match.
Before the tournament, Medvedev responded to a humorous comment from one of the fans, who called Daniil the best guy in the history of tennis. One fan wrote on social media: “The best doubles player in the history of tennis will be back next week,” referring to the Russian’s upcoming performance at the 2024 Laver Cup.
“See you in Berlin next week!” Medvedev replied on his social media page, adding a fun hashtag #doublesspecialist.
Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud at the Laver Cup 2021
Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Despite the exhibition nature of the tournament, Medvedev says the pressure here is even greater than at other competitions on the calendar, precisely because each tennis player is responsible not only for himself, but also for the team. “Team competitions always carry more pressure. There are other guys supporting you, which is good, but if you start losing a match you think: ‘How do they look at me? Am I really losing that much? Should I do better? ’ Then there is a lot of pressure and you are trying to deal with it.
This year Europe has a pretty strong team, so I would say that the world team is an outsider,” Daniil is quoted as saying by the Laver Cup press service.
In fact, the European team is stronger than the world team (in brackets is the position in the ATP ranking):
Team Europe Alexander Zverev (Germany, 2) Carlos Alcaraz (Spain, 3) Daniil Medvedev (Russia, 5) Kasper Ruud (Norway, 9) Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 10) Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece, 12).
World Team Taylor Fritz (USA, 7) Francis Tiafoe (USA, 16) Ben Shelton (USA, 17) Alejandro Tabilo (Chile, 22) Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina, 31) Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia, 78) ).
“This [командный статус] “This makes the tournament even more interesting and competitive. Usually this doesn’t happen during the year. This is the only time of the year when we support each other, we go to dinner together, we spend time together,” Medvedev says. At the same time, Daniil assures that, as in other tournaments, everyone has one goal: to win. “We all want to win. When the six of us are here, we want to beat the other six, no matter who is on the other side of the net,” he said.
The Russian also told us about his role in the team. “I would say that the most important role is to score points. But if we talk about personal qualities… I hope I can bring a bit of calmness and equanimity to the team,” Medvedev said.
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Schedule
The tournament will take place from September 20-22. Three singles matches and one doubles match will be played on the first and second days of play. The third day will begin with a doubles match, followed by three singles matches if necessary. For winning each match on the first day, the team receives one point, the second two points and the third three points. The first team to reach 13 points will be declared the winner.
ATP. Laver Cup 2024. List of participants.
