Tennis fans braced themselves for a major spectacle at this year's Laver Cup, but Team World's dominant march to the title with three matches to spare left them massively disappointed.
Team Europe had won each of the first four editions of the Laver Cup, but there was a shift in power that began last year when Team World stunned the world to win their first Laver Cup championship against the team with a gaudy lineup including all members of the Big 3.
But the absence of key names in Team Europe's squad for this year's tournament proved telling. Roger Federer retired from professional tennis last autumn. Rafael Nadal is recovering from a serious hip injury, while Novak Djokovic's busy schedule rendered it impossible to feature.
The Big 3 weren't the only absentees. Team Europe couldn't count on the services of Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, who were both recuperating from a physically brutal North American summer. Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew prior to the tournament leaving them short on squad depth.
That meant team captain Bjorn Borg had four debutants at his disposal, those being Gael Monfils, Hubert Hurkacz, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and the youngest man in the field 19-year-old Arthur Fils. The four men complemented regular members Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud.
At the end of Day 1, it was clear which direction the trophy would be heading as Team World trounced their counterparts 4-0, completing a clean sweep. Despite Ruud's best efforts to make the scoreline more respectable on the second day, John McEnroe's charges ran away with it as convincing winners with a score of 13-2.
One tennis fan on X had this to say about the tournament: Worst ever Laver Cup edition and it's not even close to 2021, which was also a beatdown. At least that year there were 6 super tiebreaks, but now 8 from 9 matches were in straight sets. I don't know if was about the names attending or what, but just such an underwhelming event.
Another wrote, 'How boring,' with a yawning emoji, clearly illustrating that it was a snoozefest as far as the result was concerned. Another user stated that Ruud should have been featured multiple times, saying, 'Why didn't they use Ruud more, who was the player who adapted best to the surface? Anyway, a victory for the unified America.'
One fan opined that Team Europe's performance at the event was a 'disgraceful'. Two additional comments from fans reiterated the absence of big names, with one user adding, 'I think it is the worst Laver Cup ever. No legends, no FUN.'
Team Europe had by far the weakest side on paper according to one fan, but never expected such a lopsided outcome: Wow.. I think everyone knew #TeamEurope had the weakest team since the inception of #LaverCup, but who saw them taking such a pummeling… and winning ONLY 2 points?! DANG.
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