Can Team World get ahead of the big four and win their first title? As Roger Federer concludes his illustrious career, Team Europe, which has dominated the competition since its start in 2017, is a solid favourite to win once more. Two teams compete in the Laver Cup: six players from the European team and six players from the world team. If you’re unfamiliar with the Laver Cup, it works much like the Ryder Cup in golf, where individual players compete in matches to earn points for their teams. Each member of the winning team receives a cash prize of $250,000 in addition to guaranteed entry fees based on ATP player rankings, but the Laver Cup itself does not contribute to that year’s ATP Tour participants’ total points.
Team Europe will again have a considerable talent advantage on paper this year, although she doesn’t have a “big three” as all six regulars are in the top 10 of the ATP rankings. At the last Laver Cup, the World Team had its best chance of glory, with Milos Raonic facing Alex Zverev in a winning match.
| Team | Odds to win 2022 Laver Cup |
|---|---|
| Team Europe | -425 |
| Team World | +290 |
| Team Europe | Team World |
|---|---|
| Roger Federer | Felix Auger-Aliassime |
| Rafael Nadal | Taylor Fritz |
| Novak Djokovic | Diego Schwartzman |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | Alex De Minaur |
| Casper Ruud | Frances Tiafoe |
| Andy Murray | Jack Sock |
| Matteo Berrettini (alternate) | Tommy Paul (alternate) |
Even though Team World boasts John McEnroe serving as its non-playing captain, it’s not hard to understand why Team Europe is favoured by such a ludicrous margin before the first set has even been played. In terms of Grand Slam event victories, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer are in that order, with a combined total of 63 throughout the course of their illustrious careers. Andy Murray has three of his own, and Casper Ruud, who placed second at the US Open, is presently ranked second in the ATP singles rankings. Sixth in those standings is Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The top two players on Team World’s roster, Taylor Fritz (12th) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (13th), are both rated higher than Team Europe’s alternate, Matteo Berrettini, in the most recent ATP rankings (15th). Frances Tiafoe (19) and Diego Schwartzman (17) are two further Top-20 athletes. Therefore, even though McEnroe’s team is undoubtedly the underdog, they have a lot of talent and possibly even a few grudges to settle.
An era is coming to an end. A legend also announced his retirement from tennis a few weeks after Serena Williams made the same announcement. After this week’s Laver Cup, Roger Federer declared he will end his tennis career. Due to injuries and knee operations, the 41-year-old last competed in the 2021 Wimbledon quarterfinal against Hubert Hurkacz.
