It was a team effort for Team World at the 2023 Laver Cup.
All six players on the roster contributed at least one point on the way to a dominant 13-2 victory over Team Europe in Vancouver, Canada. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe went 3-0 (2-0 doubles, 1-0 singles), Felix Auger-Aliassime went 2-0 (1-0 singles, 1-0 doubles), Taylor Fritz and Francisco Cerundolo went 1-0 (both in singles), and Tommy Paul went 1-1 (0-1 singles, 1-0 doubles).
Team Europe’s only points came when Casper Ruud defeated Paul 7-6(6), 6-2 on Saturday.
“The level from everyone in this team all week was amazing,” Fritz assessed. “Everyone showed up and played about as good as they could possibly play. That’s why we got it done with the scoreline that we did. It’s amazing to come back winning after last year. We all got to celebrate last year and it was so much fun. It was one of my top memories since I have played tennis. We all wanted that again this year, and we got it. It’s great to go back-to-back, and now we all want to come back next year and do it all again.
“It’s just different as opposed to when you’re on the tour playing by yourself and you win something. It’s just not the same as this. When you win something with all these guys and all your close friends, you get to celebrate it. You get to enjoy it a lot more.”
“To win is the best feeling,” Auger-Aliassime commented. “It’s nice a year later after what we had done in London to come back and win here in Vancouver. That’s what we wanted a week ago when we arrived. We did it. We backed it up and stepped up to the challenge and made it happen.”
“We’re already thinking about next year, because winning is a whole lot better than losing,” said captain John McEnroe. “We struggled the first couple years and now we have tasted winning, and it feels good.”
McEnroe’s World side is now 2-4 all time in the Laver Cup heading into the 2024 event, which will take place in Berlin.
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Europe needs to bolster the roster in ’24