John McEnroe admitted return of Carlos Alcaraz and other top European stars in future editions of the Laver Cup will make things difficult for Team World

Team World retained the Laver Cup title on Sunday.

John McEnroe admitted return of Carlos Alcaraz and other top European stars in future editions of the Laver Cup will make things difficult for Team World

(L) Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal; (R) John McEnroe (Source: Laver Cup/Twitter)

Team World retained their Laver Cup title, as they completely outplayed Team Europe over the three-day event. They retained their title on Day 3, with a victory in the first encounter of the day. Team World coach John McEnroe spoke about some big names missing from their opponent’s list prior to the second day of the event.

Team Europe fielded a depleted side this year, with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz all missing. Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew just a fortnight prior to the event, which further put a dent in the side. Team World started the Laver Cup with a head start on Day One, winning all four matches. McEnroe was delighted with taking the lead so early and opined on the absence of some big stars at the Laver Cup this year.

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“This week is the first time we have ever been in the lead, so this is sort of a new feeling for us. So that’s good. But, you know, hey, we’ve got to take advantage of this now, and so I think these guys are getting it,” said McEnroe in Day 2 presser. The likes of Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Francisco Cerundolo all took court on Day One, and won their respective matches to help Team World take a comfortable lead.

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John McEnroe believes next year will be a completely different story at the Laver Cup

John McEnroe expects the likes of Alcaraz to compete at the Laver Cup next year. Speaking on the eve of Day 2, he stated that next year would be a totally different scenario, given that several stars would return for Team Europe. Hence, he expects his team to make the best of this year, and exploit a depleted Team Europe.

John McEnroe (Source : Twitter)
John McEnroe (Source: Twitter/X)

“I mean, obviously next year it’s going to be a different story. We’ll be back in Europe. A couple of guys, you know, Carlos, if he plays, it will be obviously a different story right off the bat. So we’ve got to take advantage of this opportunity and get some momentum,” he added.

As things panned out, Team World won the Laver Cup with three matches remaining. The pair of Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton claimed a victory in the Doubles encounter over Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz. They won both sets in the tiebreaker, in what can be described as the best fixture in the Laver Cup this year. Team World has successfully defended its title, after winning it for the first time in 2022. It will be interesting to see if Team Europe returns to winning ways in 2024, given that the Laver Cup moves back to Europe.

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