“Federer’s retirement anniversary event’ – Laver Cup 2023 starts off on a horrible note as fans criticise the management

Fans on social media pointed out the high ticket prices for the event.


“Federer’s retirement anniversary event’ – Laver Cup 2023 starts off on a horrible note as fans criticise the management

Laver Cup

20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer was in attendance as the 6th edition of the Laver Cup kicked off to an underwhelming start on Friday. The Laver Cup is an international indoor hard-court men’s team tennis tournament between Team Europe and Team World. Interestingly, Federer played the last competitive match of his career at the same tournament last year. The match resulted in a 6–4, 6(2)-7, 9–11 loss in doubles, partnering long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

Defending champions Team World won all four matches against Team Europe to dominate day one of the tournament. Ben Shelton, Francisco Cerundolo and Felix Auger-Aliassime all triumphed in their singles matches and were followed by Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, who completed a clean sweep in the doubles for Team World.

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The first team to reach 13 points will lift the trophy. Matches on day one were each worth one point, with two points on offer for each victory on Saturday and three points for each win on the final day.

FS Video

Francisco Cerundolo earned his first Laver Cup point for Team World giving them a 2-0 lead, overcoming Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 7-5 in the pair’s first meeting. He also became the 1st South American to win a match at the Laver Cup. “To play here in front of Roger, John, Bjorn. It’s amazing for me. To be honest, I should be watching them. Not them watching me,” he said after the victory.

Roger Federer joined-in for the final match of the day and led the coin toss. After the match, he was joined by Jim Courier in an on-court interview to reflect on the first year of his retirement. “It’s great to be back at the Laver Cup one year later and if I look back at the memories, I thought the farewell was beautiful, it was perfect, it was emotional, there was proper suffering going on throughout my talk with you,” Federer said. “It’s a really intense, beautiful life I’m living now,” he added.

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Fans on social media call out the lack of intensity at the Laver Cup

Tennis fans on Social Media lashed out at the Laver Cup management. Apparently, the organizers had to reduce the ticket prices as plenty of tickets went unsold leading up to the start of the tournament. Some fans criticized the exhibition feels to the tournament, blaming the players for showing a lack of intensity. One of the fans sarcastically called it Federer’s retirement anniversary event. Notably, Felix Auger-Aliassime called out Gael Monfils for showing a lack of intensity during their face-off on day 1 of the Laver Cup.

laver cup felix AA and monfils
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Geal Monfils engage in a heated debate as John McEnroe looks on (Credit : Eurosport YT)

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans had to say:

Day 2’s line-up comprises three singles matches and a doubles match comprising two points. Andrey Rublev will face Taylor Fritz to kick-off the proceedings for the day.

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