John McEnroe will be the Team World Captain for the final time at the 2024 Laver Cup, and he hopes that Carlos Alcaraz plays poorly so that his team has a chance to win.
This year's Laver Cup is significant in many ways. For the first time in its history, Team World has a chance to win the event for the third time in a row. It has never happened before because they won it for the first time two years ago in London.
They also won it last year, and now this is their chance to win it for a third time, still one short of Team Europe's streak of four wins. It's also the final time John McEnroe will serve as Team Captain because he will retire from the position after this year and will be replaced by Andre Agassi.
Obviously, being it his last time, he wants to sign off with a third win, and he believes his team has chances. There is a couple of solid players in his team who have played some inspired tennis lately.
Taylor Fritz is the highest-ranked player in the team, and he just stood in the US Open final. Frances Tiafoe has also been playing super solid tennis, as has Ben Shelton. Therefore, it's not a surprise that McEnroe likes their chances.
"We have some guys that are hot. Taylor [Fritz], first time he got to a US Open final, that’s huge for an American. Ben Shelton is going to be a superstar I believe, but they are also playing superstars already."
Solving the Team Europe riddle will be much harder this year than last year, though, as the European team has brought much better players this time around.
Chiefly among them is Carlos Alcaraz, who will be making his debut at the event, and that will be a problem for McEnroe because he knows how good the Spaniard is.
Speaking ahead of the event, McEnroe said jokingly that he hopes Alcaraz will play horribly in Berlin, possibly increasing the chances of his team's success.
"Carlos Alcaraz, I love Carlos, I have to admit. I hope he plays horribly this weekend, but generally he’s the biggest breath of fresh air we’ve had in the sport in 10 years."
The danger doesn’t just come from Alcaraz, as the Spaniard will have a backup with a few really strong players. Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev will also cause worries for McEnroe, but they are not the only ones, as there are also Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud.
There is just an abundance of talent in Team Europe, and beating them won’t be easy this year. It should be an exciting event with many great matches, which is exactly what the Laver Cup is about.
"[Alexander] Zverev playing in his home country and [Daniil] Medvedev wanting to do his thing. Right from the top that’s a pretty strong first three guys."