Laver Cup: 4 Players to look out for

Laver Cup Opening Night
Djokovic and Federer ready to represent Team Europe

The second edition of the exciting exhibition of the Laver Cup returns this Friday in Chicago as Europe's finest tennis players take on the world elite.

It's an exciting time to be a tennis fan especially if you have an admiration for many of the top-ranked tennis players from the ATP World Tour.

Many of the familiar faces from the men's tennis circuit will be coming together in Chicago to celebrate the sport and to also see who will lift the Laver Cup come Sunday's curtain closer.

Last year saw the introduction of the Laver Cup with Team Europe coming out on top, the legendary Bjorn Borg leading the team to greatness.

One of the highlights was two of the most decorated in the sport's history of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal partnering up in a doubles match which would see them defeat Sam Querrey and Jack Sock.

Team Europe won 15-9 in Prague, Czech Republic and now 12 months on their mission is to defend the title named after the great Rod Laver.

The teams

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Sadly for Team World's Captain John McEnroe, this year's US Open runner-up Juan Martin Del Potro has pulled out of the tournament as he recovers from his US Open run.

On paper, Team Europe have the stronger group when you compare all players' rankings but anything can happen in a team event.

In this slideshow, we have picked out two players from both teams for you spectators to look out for throughout this weekend's event.

Here are 4 players to look out for at this year's Laver Cup...

#4 Kyle Edmund - Team Europe

Laver Cup Previews - Day 4
Edmund is currently the British No. 1

Kyle Edmund has gone up in the ATP rankings over the last three years since fans started to notice the Briton.

Edmund's first real foray into the spotlight was at the 2015 Davis Cup final when representing Great Britain against Belgium.

The opening match saw an inexperienced Edmund go up against Belgium's No. 1 David Goffin.

Edmund surprised many when he took a two-set lead over Goffin and looked to seal the first match of the final.

But Goffin picked himself up and recovered to perform an exhilarating comeback to defeat Edmund and avoid an unexpected result.

Since then Edmund has taken advantage of what he has learnt on the courts and has progressed very well.

His biggest landmark so far was reaching this year's semi-final at the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old had to overcome the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Kevin Anderson and Denis Istomin to reach the final four.

But a determined Marin Cilic ended the Briton's hopes of reaching his first Grand Slam final.

Edmund can certainly pull off a few surprises.

#3 Kevin Anderson - Team World

Day Eleven: The Championships - Wimbledon 2018
A two time Grand Slam finalist

He's tall, he's strong and he is 110% energized.

That's Kevin Anderson for you!

The South African is not an easy player to compete against, not even the slightest.

The last 12 months have probably been the biggest for the 32-year-old.

This time last year, Anderson was recovering from finishing as the 2017 US Open runner-up to Rafael Nadal.

He had just experienced his first Grand Slam final and with that run, it helped him continue his progression.

Earlier this year at Wimbledon, Anderson was involved in the longest major semi-final match, against John Isner.

The match went on for six hours and 36 minutes as the South African came out on top but only had a day in-between to recover ahead of the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic.

Anderson's fatigue looked obvious in the final as Djokovic won comfortably in straight sets while Anderson had to take in another Grand Slam runner-up trophy.

Anderson is currently ranked No. 9 in the world and has his eyes on making the top eight for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

#2 Alexander Zverev - Team Europe

Laver Cup Previews - Day 4
Zverev is ready to participate for the 2nd year running at the Laver Cup

In all sports, we have the young generation from which a few will grab the sport with both hands and become legends.

Currently in Formula One, we have the likes of Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc expected to, in the future, compete for world championships.

In the world of football many are talking about the French player Kylian Mbappe who took last summer's FIFA World Cup by storm by scoring a handful of goals before lifting the biggest prize in the beautiful game.

In tennis, there is Alexander Zverev.

The 21-year-old has a lot of expectations on his shoulders but he is so far handling the pressure well.

Last year saw the young German qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals by finishing in the top 8 rankings at the end of the season.

Zverev's highlight so far this season was defeating Dominic Thiem in order to win the Madrid Masters after finishing runner-up to John Isner at the Miami Masters.

Zverev has a bright future in tennis.

#1 Nick Kyrgios

Laver Cup Previews - Day 4
Kyrgios sure is a strange character

When you think of angry and bad-tempered tennis players you come up with the names of John McEnroe amongst others.

You might as well add Nick Kyrgios to that list.

The career of the Australian has been an interesting one to follow so far.

The guy has a lot of controversy and bad press hovering over him but he is an exciting player overall.

Kyrgios has been known for displaying his anger on the court - just ask Stanislas Wawrinka.

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But there is potential for the Australian if he is more focused.

Many would say that he lets his anger get the better of him even if he is leading a match by two sets.

His character will certainly entertain the Chicago crowd throughout the weekend but the real question is will he perform under his boss John McEnroe?

Which player do you think will make the biggest splash at the Laver Cup? Comment below


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