Prague to host inaugural Laver Cup in September 2017
NEW YORK – Roger Federer may not be playing in this year's U.S. Open, but on Wednesday morning, just days before the start of the major tournament in New York, the World No. 3 joined Rod Laver, Rafael Nadal and others at the St. Regis hotel in Manhattan to announce Prague, Czech Republic, as the first host city of the inaugural Laver Cup.
The first edition of the Laver Cup—created by Team8, the agency that represents Federer—will take place Sept. 22-24, 2017, at the O2 Arena in Prague, on indoor hardcourts. The tournament was first announced during the Australian Open in January as a men's team event that will take place annually in September, but not during an Olympic year.
On Wednesday, Federer and Nadal already confirmed their intentions to play in the tournament, which will pit a team of six players from Europe against a team of the best from the rest of the world over three days of singles and doubles matches, mimicking the format of golf's Ryder Cup, where a U.S. team faces a European team.
Laver selected the first two team captains, Bjorn Borg (Europe) and John McEnroe (rest of the world), who will choose two players each for their respective teams. The other four players on the six-person squad will earn their spot through ATP tournaments and rankings. The Laver Cup will award prize money to the players, but will not pay appearance fees. The tournament schedule will see three singles matches and one doubles match played per day.
This post will be updated.
