Roger Federer had Laver Cup ‘angst’ with John McEnroe with Nadal issue

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The Laver Cup is often played in good spirits with the unique format bringing usual rivals together in a team setting, but three years ago saw tensions rise between Team Europe and Team World behind the scenes. Team Europe have dominated all four previous Laver Cups and Team World were thrashed in last year’s edition 14-1.

John McEnroe has continually been Team World’s captain throughout the years and wants them to end that barren run. The build-up to the Laver Cup is often friendly, especially this year with everyone happy to be a part of Roger Federer’s final tournament before retiring.

But when play starts on Friday, the competitive spirit of the best players on tour soon comes out. While both teams are respectful of one another, tensions have occasionally spilled over and there was arguably no bigger spat than during the 2019 Laver Cup

Nadal was scheduled to play against Nick Kyrgios on the final day, but the Spaniard pulled out after picking up a wrist injury earlier in the event. Dominic Thiem, then ranked No 5 in the world, was drafted in to face Kyrgios but another last-minute change saw the Aussie also withdraw with an injury of his own.

After a lengthy delay, Taylor Fritz was eventually announced as Kyrgios’ replacement to face Thiem. McEnroe was furious as he tried to explain what was going on behind the scenes, hinting that the rules were in Team Europe’s favour.

“We were told on the way over that Rafa couldn’t play,” he said. “Well that means you can’t play the same guy and that sort of limited our options. I thought Denis was playing well and Taylor played well also. But we were looking to maybe put Denis in.

“I’ve always been maybe not a stickler for rules. The last day, we are supposed to be matching up the way we want to and it ends up being the total opposite. That’s too bad. Coming from someone who never bent any rules, it seems like a little bending is happening.”

Neither Nadal or Federer came out for the start of Thiem’s match against Fritz before they emerged and the latter looked far from happy. Broadcaster Mark Petchey indicated that Federer’s mood may well have had something to do with McEnroe and his comments.

“That’s not a happy looking Roger Federer. Of course, he lost his doubles which is probably the reason why,” he said. “But just the way things have unfolded in the last 25 minutes haven’t been conducive to the atmosphere.”

He added: “But I get a sense between the two teams now that there’s a fair bit of angst about what has unfolded.”

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