“Leylah playing for Team World and Raducanu for Team Europe” Marion Bartoli suggests changes for the next Laver Cup
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Marion Bartoli, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez
2013 Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli came up with an interesting suggestion after the conclusion of the 2021 Laver Cup, the 4th edition of the star-studded 3-day tournament where 6 players from Team Europe go up against 6 players from Team World who are each captained by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe respectively.
The Laver Cup has been one of the most sought tournaments ever since it began in 2017. While the tournament sees the likes of the Big-3, American greats like John Isner, Sam Querrey and many others, the tournament so far has been an all-male affair and Bartoli came up with a good innovation to attract the tournament to a wider audience and make the event more successful.
Speaking on the Match Points podcast, Marion came up with the idea to incorporate women as well in the Laver Cup. “I think it would be nice to be a mixed event, especially now when you have, for example, Leylah (Fernandez) playing for the rest of the world and (Emma) Raducanu playing for Europe. I think it would be so interesting to see some Mixed Doubles, singles too obviously.“
“Let’s say a mixed-doubles between Emma and Novak against Leylah and Felix for example, that would be something a lot of people would pay for. So I think you can absolutely incorporate women and still make it a great event for years to come,” concluded Marion giving a great chain of thought for the organisers for future events.
Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez both set to return on the WTA Tour at the upcoming 2021 Indian Wells Open
Ever since their fantastic and underdog run at the 2021 US Open, fans were waiting to see the teen sensations Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez back in action. Both the WTA and ATP Tours were on a 1-week break after the conclusion of the final Grand Slam of the season, the two teens are yet to return on the Tour.
Both the players were recently confirmed as the participants in the final WTA-1000 tournament of the season, the 2021 Indian Wells Open. While Leylah did not need any help to qualify, Emma was granted the wildcard as she was ranked World No. 150 when the entries closed for the tournament, which meant she had to either skip the tournament, get a wildcard or play the qualifiers.
Nevertheless, with their participation confirmed, it will keep the fans on the edge to see the two teens take on new challenges as they are now one of the crowd favourites for their feats in New York.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)