Frances Tiafoe has opened up on seeing John McEnroe “drunk” after Team World won the Laver Cup for the first time last year. The squad looks set to retain their crowd as they go into the third and final day with a 10-2 point lead over Team Europe, meaning the celebrations could be on the cards again. Tiafoe also echoed a plea from his team captain McEnroe for the tennis world to give the tournament more support.
Tiafoe is playing the Laver Cup for the fourth time and has already won both matches he’s played – a doubles clash alongside Tommy Paul and a singles showdown against Hubert Hurkacz. The world No 11 played a pivotal role in Team World 12 months ago as he won the match that allowed his squad to pick up the trophy for the first time.
It could be a repeat for World this year as they need to win just one of the four matches on the final day of the tournament, and Tiafoe has been called up in both the doubles and singles on Sunday. The 25-year-old has made it no secret that he takes the team tournament very seriously and he admitted that it was “incredible” to see the McEnroe brothers getting drunk after they lifted the trophy in 2022.
“Well, for sure, Laver Cup is definitely a staple every year for me. It’s an event I want to make, first off, first and foremost, and another thing where I want to win,” the three-time title winner said on Saturday. “Obviously last year we clinched it for the first time, a collective effort.”
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Laughing, Tiafoe turned his attention to the celebrations and added: “It was an unbelievable experience. Seeing Johnny Mac that drunk and P-Mac that drunk afterward was incredible. It was awesome. We all did it together, and it was so big and so big for the event.”
The American also wanted to see more support for the tournament as a whole. The Laver Cup was co-founded by Roger Federer to honour Rod Laver and to allow different generations of tennis stars to come together, with McEnroe and Bjorn Borg currently the team captains.
And Tiafoe hoped more big names would sign up to play the Ryder Cup-style team event. “I think Rog and Rod and everybody who else is involved did a great job of putting this event together. I think this event needs to have more and more emphasis and get the best players in the world playing. It really is an unbelievable event,” he explained.
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It comes after McEnroe claimed that there was a major scheduling “issue” with the Laver Cup, calling on tennis bosses to ensure that it didn’t cross over with any regular tour events. “I think this is where hopefully tennis will realise the gift it was given – this is my opinion – by having Rod Laver and Roger Federer associated with a team event like this,” he said earlier in the week.
“I think it would be a shame if this thing didn’t continue to, you know, exist in the calendar. As a matter of fact, I think it needs more of a stand-alone time so all players will feel like it’s not something that’s, you know, scheduling-wise even an issue. I think that’s become one”
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