The Laver Cup announced on Friday that it is cancelling its event in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to reshuffle the tennis calendar.
This year’s installment of the annual Europe vs. World team competition has been in doubt ever since the French Open made a controversial move from its traditional spring spot on the calendar to late September and early October. That directly conflicted with the Laver Cup’s original Sept. 25-27 dates in Boston.
Laver Cup officials did not directly mention the coronavirus in its statement, instead appearing to point a finger at the French Open.
“Event organizers toady announced that the Laver Cup will not be held in 2020, but will return to Boston in 2021, a move prompted by the changes to the international tennis calendar which a scheduling conflict with other major international tennis events. The fourth edition of the Laver Cup will now be held at the TD Garden in Boston from September 24-26, 2021.”
Roger Federer and his agent Tony Godsick, two of the Laver Cup’s masterminds, weighed in on Friday’s news.
“It’s unfortunate that the Laver Cup has to be pushed back a year, but at this stage it’s the right thing to do for everyone concerned,” Federer said. “Although disappointing, the good news is that TD Garden will still be able to host the event next year and I really look forward to finally playing in Boston for the first time at Laver Cup 2021.”
“We needed to make a decision now on our event,” Godsick added. “We know our passionate fans will be disappointed that they have to wait an extra year for the Laver Cup in Boston, but this is the responsible course of action, necessitated by the emerging calendar conflicts.”
The tennis tours are currently suspended through Wimbledon until at least mid-July.
expected
I’ve been pretty certain that it’s just not going to be possible to hold mass events any time soon in the US – and Laver Cup needs a crowd. RG could do without one if need be. Not optimistic about RG or USO happening this year but too soon to say.
The article says: “Laver Cup officials did not directly mention the coronavirus in its statement, instead appearing to point a finger at the French Open.”
Fed’s behaviour is disgusting! Fed, an owner of the Laver Cup, ruled out his participation in the FO a long time ago – after having knee surgery. So, the French Open’s postponement to September won’t prevent him from holding his entertainment event at the same time.
Wikipedia: ¤¤ Roger Federer’s management company, TEAM8, Brazilian businessman and former Davis Cup player Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Tennis Australia partnered to create the Laver Cup. ¤¤
He ruled out playing because, as you say, he had knee surgery.
Then covid-19 happened and the FO re-scheduled for months later, meaning he wouldn’t be recovering from surgery (though there would be a conflict issue with LC).
But given the current state of affairs, FO (and USO) still may not happen.
It will be interesting to see what the top of the men’s game will look like once tennis returns, which imo will not be until there is a vaccine or herd immunity, so at least a year, probably more. Given the age of the big three, it’s hard to see them continuing to dominate. At this rate there’s a decent chance Fed will retire before he gets to play another tournament.
On the other hand, it might be a nice ‘refresh’ moment for the big three. I’m not sure it will necessarily slow them down, they’ll have the facilities and everything to keep training while the tour is on hold.
No surprise re LC cancellation, and I bet Fed WILL play it in 2021.
I hope you’re right, Scoot!
Fed should play doubles when he retired from singles ,not for a while hopefully
Yeah, Fed and Rafa should play doubles and tear up the tour. Not gonna happen though, except in Laver Cup maybe.
Looks like Djokovic may be the last man back on the tour…it’s so bad to have this kind of publicity for the anti-vaxxers
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/apr/19/novak-djokovic-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-tennis
I was truly amazed to find out by chance a while back that his wife Jelena holds some absolutely ludicrous views and actively promotes an utter charlatan who claims a spirit has allowed him to diagnose medical ailments since childhood. I always liked Jelena before reading this but boy is she out to lunch. Apparently it was her who was behind hiring guru Pepe and so on. It’s very disappointing that someone as intelligent as Nole goes along with her.
The anti vaxxers tend to be also people who don’t believe in climate change and actively incite violence against scientists. I don’t believe Nole is in that camp but the movement itself is utterly toxic and it’s sad to see him associated with it.
If someone chooses not to vaccinate, ok, fine. They’re still free-riding on the rest of us, but it’s not a huge deal if they keep it to themselves. But to publicly announce that you choose not to vaccinate, especially for an elite and intelligent athlete with a high profile like Novak, I think does a lot of damage.
What can one say, this is unprecedented. Hope everyone is keeping safe until the next event with actual spectators. Whenever that will be.
You can still keep the stories coming I guess. Im sure tennis fans are keeping a close eye on things. Latest one with Djokovic is interesting. Im sure he has a good reason, he really looks after himself and doesnt trust much outside of his direct family.
Hope Ricky is surviving the hit to advertising revenue also. Maybe he can seek the small business assistance etc. Milk it for what you can.
Also, I think tennis will resume in 2001 if we’re lucky. They reckon the virus will keep coming back until a vaccine arrives. Tennis is such a spectator sport, doubt any of the major events will go ahead without spectators.
A nice read by a tennis enthusiast at the NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/opinion/tennis-coronavirus.html
Thanks for the link, Joe.
The highlight of my day was watching the 2015 USO final between Andy and Nole. Interesting match. For “live” tennis I watched Rafa struggle with instagram chat to make contact with Roger, Andy and Marc Lopez. Roger seemed relieved to discover that Rafa’s lefty forehand was natural to him, not some sort of deep-laid plot to destroy Roger. Btw besides playing soccer left-footed Rafa plays table tennis left handed, which I suppose makes sense…
A sobering article on the medium term prospects for tennis. Rafa and Thiem don’t expect it again this year. McEnroe gets it right that tennis will be one of the very last things to come back due to its international nature and air travel. At this point, I think 2021 is looking optimistic.
https://www-jstor-org.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/stable/pdf/43154426.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A771036ef00001998e7ebb3bbb1f5c4f1
We will appreciate it all the more when it finally returns
Hello everyone hope you are all safe and healthy.
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