"The goal was to make it like golf’s Ryder Cup, it doesn't seem to be the case now" - John McEnroe on player commitments for Laver Cup

Tennis legend and Team World captain at the Laver Cup, John McEnroe was left disappointed with the tournament stating that the Laver Cup is far off behind another similar golf tournament named Ryder Cup in terms of appeal and player commitments.

The reluctance by tennis stars to participate in the Laver Cup has made McEnroe unhappy. The American talked about how the Laver Cup was brought into the tennis scene in the first place six years ago but they are far off from the goal.

McEnroe had the vision of creating a similar competition like the Ryder Cup where all the top stars would be keen to perform regardless of their schedule and availability in order to make the competition even more fierce. But seeing top players like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Carlos Alcaraz not available for this year's edition has left the 7-time Grand Slam winner disappointed. As per the New York Times, McEnroe said:

“The goal was to make it like golf’s Ryder Cup, where everyone was waiting until the last minute to see who was hottest, but everyone was available. It doesn’t seem to be the case now. It’s tougher to get everyone committed.”

With what looks like a generational shift in the tennis world at the moment, this year's competition is going to give the fans a new sort of excitement. The greats of the sport, namely, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic who had always donned the blue strips of Team Europe since the arrival of the competition, will miss out for the first time leaving spaces for many new next-gen stars.

Team Europe vs Team World at the Laver Cup in the past

Team Europe has had the better of Team World for four straight years from 2017 to 2021 with McEnroe's boys finally tasting victory last year by 13-8. This happened despite Team Europe being heavily loaded with all the Big-4s of the game representing the blue colors in the same competition for the first time.

It was Federer's last ever tournament and sadly the Swiss legend couldn't grab the title after having won it three times in the past. In 2017, Team Europe defeated Team World 15-9 with Federer winning the deciding match against Nick Kyrgios.

In the years 2018 and 2019, Team Europe won 13-8 and 13-11 respectively but it was at the 2021 edition, when the World team was hammered by the European stars resulting in a 14-1 defeat. It would be enthralling to see which side takes the silverware with both teams looking equally balanced on paper.