"It was exciting, Roger Federer played final match & clutched it" - Casper Ruud on Team Europe's initial Laver Cup success amid 2-year title drought

Casper Ruud revisited the initial seasons of Roger Federer’s brainchild tournament, the Laver Cup, after Team Europe’s latest loss.

On Sunday, September 24, Team World defeated Team Europe 13-2 to lift the Laver Cup trophy for the second consecutive year. On the final day, Team World needed just one win to emerge victorious. With Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton winning their doubles match against Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz, the team sealed the deal in the first match of the day itself.

It is worth noting that four-time winners Team Europe registered a solitary victory this time around when Casper Ruud defeated Tommy Paul in the second match on Saturday.

In the post-tournament press conference, Ruud revisited the inaugural 2017 edition of the Laver Cup, where Roger Federer sealed the victory for Team Europe by defeating Nick Kyrgios in the final match of the tournament.

The Norwegian praised the level-pegging battle between the two teams.

“When I watched on TV the first series, it was so exciting, because [Roger Federer] played a couple of times the final match of the Sunday and clutched it for Team Europe,” he recalled.

Casper Ruud, who was a part of Team Europe in 2021 as well as in 2022, expressed his disappointment about this year’s lopsided victory, which he previously experienced when Team Europe lifted the 2021 title by winning all but one encounters.

“I think it is a great format and I played three times. Two of the times that I have played was maybe in a way a little bit unfortunate with only one doubles deciding on Sunday. The crowd didn't get to see a singles after or whatever, so that's not in my hands to decide what the format looks like,” Casper Ruud said.

“The only good thing for us this weekend was that we scored at least one more point than the World did when we crushed them [in 2021]. So two points is much better than one,” he added.

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"It came down to almost the last match" – Casper Ruud on Team Europe's Laver Cup loss during Roger Federer's farewell in 2022

Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev of Team Europe alongside Team World at Laver Cup 2023

Casper Ruud also revisited the 2022 edition, where Team Europe was defeated by Team World.

Despite the loss, Ruud said that he appreciated last year's contest since both teams had an equal chance of winning until the third match of the final day. The match concluded with Frances Tiafoe’s thrilling win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Ruud also acknowledged the presence of all-time greats Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.

“But last year in London was great in many ways because you had so many great players, great lineup, and it came down to almost the last match,” he said.

He reiterated that while the Laver Cup contest hasn’t come down to the wire in the past few years, he particularly enjoys the event created by Roger Federer.

“It's been a couple of years without playing that last singles match, but I don't know. It's a great initiative. Me, as a golf fan, watching Ryder Cup all my life in my childhood, it's great for tennis to have this event,” he said.