Team Europe defeats Team World to win Laver Cup

CHICAGO, IL – SEPTEMBER 23: Team Europe poses with the trophy after their Men’s Singles match on day three to win the 2018 Laver Cup at the United Center on September 23, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for The Laver Cup/AFP

Team Europe defeated the team from the rest of the world 13 to 8 to win the Laver Cup for the second year, following its 15 to 9 victory in the maiden edition in 2017.

The idea of Laver Cup competition was generated by Roger Federer and promoted by his company TEAM8.

It was to honour the great Australian player, Rod Laver the first winner of a calendar Grand Slam.

With the support of former Brazilian Davis Cup player Jorge Paolo Lemann and Tennis Australia, the maiden edition took place at the 02 Arena Prague, Czech Republic.

The organizers succeeded in slotting the event for the fortnight after the US Open to precede the Gitto ATP Tour finals in November.

The event does not count for ranking points but complies with ATP Tour stipulations for exhibitions.

The players are the top six ranked players in Europe and the top ranked six from the rest of the world the United States.

The Captain for Team Europe was Sweden’s Bjorn Borg, assisted by compatriot Tomas Enqvist, while for Team World it was John McEnroe, assisted by his brother Patrick.

This year’s edition took place at the United Arena, Chicago, home of the Chicago Bulls basketball team and The Blackhawks in Ice Hockey.

The format is similar to the three-day Davis Cup competition, which was conceived by a Harvard University tennis player, Dwight Davis as an annual competition between the United States and The British Isles.

For the Laver Cup, however, each match won earns one point on first day, two on second and three on the third.

The third set ends with a player reaching 10 games with a lead of two.

Team Europe jumped to the lead on the first day with victories by Roger Federer over Frances Tiafoe, Kyle Edmund over Jack Sock and David Goffin over Diego Schwartzman. The Team World pair of Jack Sock and Kevin Anderson defeated Federer and Djokovic 7/6 (5); 3/6; 10-6.

On the second day, Alexander Zverez extended the lead to 5-1 with a 3/6; 7/6 (6); 10-6 victory over John Isner, while a straight sets victory by Federer over Kyrgios extended it to 7-1.

Then Anderson defeated Djokovic 6/7; 7/5; 10-6, while Sock and Kyrgios defeated Goffin and Dimitrov to close the gap 7-5.