From next Friday until Sunday, Berlin will be the world’s center of tennis with the celebration of a new edition of the Laver Cup , an event that brings together the best players in the world in a unique format that allows them to compete as they do not do all year, as a team and supporting each other during each match.
One of the figures who will be in Germany with Team Europe is Russian Daniil Medvedev, who will join Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov to fight against Team World, led by John McEnroe and made up of Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Francisco Cerúndolo, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alejandro Tabilo. The tournament’s official website shared an interview with the Muscovite, in which he greatly praised one of his teammates. “Probably in my career he is the toughest opponent I have faced.
“I’m going to try to raise my level next time I play Carlos, try to do something new, something better,” Medvedev said of Carlos.
Medvedev: That’s what makes this event even more fun and more competitive
Europe will try to regain the title, a championship that has gone to the red team in the last two years.
The last time Bjorn Borg’s team won was in Boston, in the 2021 edition. “I would say that the most important role is to score points, but if we talk about personalities, I hope to be able to bring some calm and serenity to the team ,” detailed the 2021 US Open champion.
The Laver Cup has become a benchmark in the competitive calendar and is a tournament that the best players in the world want to be in, even though it does not award points for the ATP ranking. “We all want to win. When we are all there, we are six players who want to beat the other six, regardless of who is on the other side of the net,” explains the Muscovite, who explains why he likes the tournament so much. “That is what makes this event even more fun and more competitive because it is something that does not happen all year round.
“It’s the only time during the year when we support each other, we go to dinner together or spend time together,” the Russian said. It will be an event without the presence of the “Big Three”, Roger Federer withdrew two years ago from this event, Djokovic was not called up and Rafael Nadal withdrew a few days ago.
However, it will be a very evenly matched cup with big stars. “Mental strength and the ability to block out doubts at key moments. Team events always carry more pressure. There are other guys who are there to support you, which is good, but if you start losing the match, you look at them and think, ‘how do they look at me? Am I really losing that badly? Do I need to do better?’ So it’s a lot of pressure and you try to manage it.
Europe has a pretty strong line-up, so I would say that the World Team is not the favourite,” was the key to winning that Daniil Medvedev analysed.
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