The 2024 Laver Cup is just a week away, and Casper Ruud is seeking revenge as Team World has won the last two editions, which is not ideal from Team Europe's point of view.
Team Europe was dominant in the first few editions of the Laver Cup. They won, sometimes in tight contests, sometimes comfortably, but they were generally the stronger team.
Things have changed in the past two years. The 2022 edition marked Roger Federer’s retirement and Team World stunningly won after playing exceptional tennis.
Last year's edition saw Team Europe field a slightly weaker team, which was convincingly beaten by their opponents. However, this year, Team Europe are returning with a vengeance, headlined by Carlos Alcaraz, even though he will not be the only top player participating.
Ruud, Alexander Zverev, and others will also be part of the team. The Norwegian player has loved the Laver Cup concept since first seeing it. He wanted to be a part of it and considers himself fortunate to have played three times already. This year, he's eager to avenge the previous two years.
"Ever since it started, the event, I was watching it on TV and I just thought, ‘I want to be there one day. I’ve had the chance to play three times now and the last two years we lost, so I think Europe is eager to get their revenge."
"It’s a cool event for the rest of the world to challenge the European players and the last two years, they didn’t just challenge Europe, they won and they beat us, so it’s time for Europe to step up. It would be really fun to win at home in Berlin."
Ruud was part of winning teams in the Laver Cup, such as in 2021 in Boston, when Team Europe crushed Team World. Ruud remembers that team well because it was just a superb team, arguably the best Team Europe ever fielded.
"In 2021 [we had] a super strong team. Daniil [Medvedev] had just won the US Open, Sascha [Zverev] had won the Olympic gold. We had Rublev, Berrettini, Stef [Tsitsipas] and myself, everyone on the team was a top 10 player… I think this year, it’s also really, really strong."
This year, they will have a very strong team once again, as Alcaraz will lead it. Behind him, experience will come from from Rafael Nadal, Zverev, Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev.
Team Europe is heavily favored to win again after a two-year drought, even though time will tell whether that will happen. Ruud clearly likes their chances.
"Alcaraz is going to play for the first year, which is going to be really exciting. Rafa is back playing Laver Cup again and he’s always super pumped for it."
"And Zverev, he’s played a few times, he’s won the [Laver breaker] a few times, so he has the experience. Daniil wants to play, and myself and Stef are also eager to bring what we can to the table and to Team Europe."
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