Laver Cup: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer star on the same side for once on Team Europe
Updated
The Laver Cup has thrown up some interesting partnerships, from the dream pairing of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, to the fiery combination of Nick Kyrgios and John McEnroe.
The newly-minted competition — named after Australian tennis legend Rod Laver — an attempt to transplant the tension and intercontinental challenge of golf's Ryder Cup to the tennis world, kicked off this weekend in Prague.
The competition itself has been a bit one-sided, with Team Europe leading Team World 9-3 after day two of the three-day event, which involves a series of singles and doubles matches.
Each match is worth one point on day one, two points on day two and three points on day three.
Team Europe is a hot favourite, needing to reach 13 points on the third and final day to clinch victory in the event.
But the interest has been as much in the willingness of everyday rivals to throw in with a common cause and cheer and play for the same side — none more so than Nadal and Federer, who Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg put together for a doubles match on day two.
In the tennis equivalent of having to face Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in their pomp at the Ryder Cup, the Team World combination of Jack Sock and Sam Querrey had to face Rafa and Roger across the net.
Federer and Nadal had already earned straight sets singles wins over Querrey and Sock respectively earlier in the day, but the star pairing did not have things all their own way when it came to the doubles.
The Team Europe stars took the first set 6-4, before Querrey and Sock hit back to win the second set 6-1, forcing the match into a 10-point match tiebreaker.
The pair celebrated their win, with Federer later taking to Twitter to emphasise how much he was enjoying the new format and the chance to play with his old rival.
Kyrgios, Supermac find common ground
On a difficult weekend for Team World, the clear standout has been Australia's own Nick Kyrgios, who has earned two of his side's three points so far.
Kyrgios, who fought hard in a losing effort for Australia in last week's Davis Cup semi-final against Belgium, has already made clear that he prefers the camaraderie of playing for a team rather than himself.
But this weekend he has taken another step, pairing with Sock to beat Nadal and Tomas Berdych in doubles on day one, before producing a singles comeback against Berdych on day two, to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 10-6.
"It's been awesome. I asked him — I actually told him ... you don't have the personality that I would have thought played tennis," Kyrgios told reporters.
"I asked him, why did you play?
"He said, 'You know, it's the same reason you play. It's because we are better at it than everything else that we do'."
Kyrgios said he and McEnroe could relate "on many things".
"He's been a great help for me. I think he actually understands me, gets where I'm coming from on most things," he said.
"It's pretty refreshing having someone that actually understands where I'm coming from."
There is big speculation that McEnroe will throw him in against Federer in the decisive singles on day three when play resumes at 8:00pm (AEST) on Sunday.
Topics: sport, tennis, czech-republic, australia, spain, switzerland
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