More than a billion fans around the world are expected to tune in to watch the Laver Cup, the newest event in world tennis, to see if Europe’s old guard, which includes two of the greatest players of all time, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, can stave off a challenge from the sports’ rising stars.
Broadcasters from more than 200 territories worldwide have signed up to deliver more than 25 hours of live coverage from the Laver Cup, reaching more than 900 million households when it hits the O2 arena in Prague, Czech Republic, from September 22-24.
Nadal and Federer, now ranked world No.1 and 2 respectively, have swept the pool of Grand Slam titles in 2017, with Nadal hoisting the US Open trophy for the third time at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
Now Nadal and Federer will put their epic rivalry on hold to join forces for the first time to uphold the proud tradition of European tennis, alongside their compatriots Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych, as they represent Team Europe.
The Americans lead Team World, with Sam Querrey, John Isner and Jack Sock teaming up with Nick Kyrgios, Juan Martin del Potro and Denis Shapavalov, all of whom will be itching to make their mark and bring in a new world order to tennis.
Where to watch the Laver Cup:
Europe
Czech TV in the host country
TVE in Spain
Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland
Sky Deutschland into Germany, Switzerland and Austria
TV24 in Switzerland
beIN Sports in France and Turkey
SuperTennis in Italy
Ziggo Sport in the Netherlands
Sportklub in Croatia and Serbia among several territories
Eleven Sports in Belgium and Luxembourg.
In addition, Pan-European broadcaster Eurosport will transmit a one-hour highlights program in prime-time on Monday 26 September.
North America
In the Americas, Tennis Channel will air the Laver Cup across the US, TVA in Canada and ESPN in more than 40 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands
ESPN will air the tournament in Rod Laver’s home country of Australia, as well as New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Asia
Elsewhere in Asia, Fox Sports will show it on a pan-regional basis, with national broadcaster CCTV and leading online portal IQIYI doing so in China. Across India and the subcontinent, the tournament will be shown by Dsport.
Middle East and Africa
Broadcast powerhouse beIN Sports will take the event to the Middle East and North Africa. Whilst premier sports network SuperSport will broadcast into 54 territories throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
“The response from broadcasters worldwide has been fantastic. It is exciting to have so many premium networks sign up and show their support for a new innovative tennis competition” Laver Cup Managing Director Steve Zacks said.
The Laver Cup coverage will be produced by Tennis Australia’s experienced host broadcast team which has delivered the Australian Open, Brisbane International, Hopman Cup, Sydney International, World Tennis Challenge and Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties for international broadcast since 2015.
A team of leading international commentators, including Britain’s Mark Petchey, Jason Goodall and Samantha Smith, Austria’s Barbara Schett, South Africa’s Robbie Koenig and Australia’s Todd Woodbridge will bring all the Laver Cup color and excitement from Prague to fans around the world.
Laver Cup Teams
Team Europe Team World
Björn Borg – Captain John McEnroe – Captain
[1] Rafael Nadal [16] Sam Querrey
[2] Roger Federer [17] John Isner
[4] Alexander Zverev [20] Nick Kyrgios
[5] Marin Cilic [21] Jack Sock
[7] Dominic Thiem [24] Juan Martin del Potro
[19] Tomas Berdych [51] Denis Shapovalov
Rankings as at September 11, 2017
Laver Cup Fast Facts
The Laver Cup is a three-day tournament pitting a team of six of the best tennis players from Europe against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world
For the first three years, Björn Borg will captain Team Europe and John McEnroe will lead
Team World
The tournament has been named in honor of Australian tennis legend Rod Laver, the only man to win two calendar-year Grand Slams, and one of the greatest players of all time
The unique format of the tournament will showcase tennis superstars competing on the same team, playing singles, pairing up in doubles and cheering each other from the sidelines
The inaugural Laver Cup will be held at the O2 arena in Prague, Czech Republic, from September 22-24, 2017
The location will rotate between major cities in Europe and the rest of the world each year
The 2018 edition of the Laver Cup will take place in the United States
The Laver Cup will be staged annually two weeks after the US Open, except in summer Olympic years.
Playing format
Each team will comprise six players and be led by a team captain
The competition will be played over three days – Friday, Saturday and Sunday
There will be five sessions, two on Friday and Saturday, and one on Sunday
Four matches will be played daily, three singles and one doubles
Both singles and doubles will be best-of-three sets with ad scoring, with the third set decided by a 10-point tiebreak in the event of split sets
In the event of a tie after all 12 matches have been completed, a final overtime doubles match will be played as a regular set with ad scoring and a tiebreak
Each player will play at least one singles match during the first two days
No player will play singles more than twice during the three days
At least four of the six players must play doubles
Match-ups will be determined prior to each day of play through the exchange of lineup cards by the captains
Each match win will be worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday.
Organization
The Laver Cup is a joint initiative between TEAM8, Tennis Australia, the USTA and Jorge Paulo Lemann and is supported by Founding Partner Rolex and Global Sponsors JPMorgan Chase and Mercedes-Benz.
