He played great and I’m happy to have him in the team, says Bjorn Borg during the pre-match press conference on Friday.
Borg is the captain of the European team that Rudd is a part of along with five other star players. This is particularly due to the Norwegian’s strong summer as he won three consecutive ATP Championships.
– I’m very happy on his behalf. Borg says he had a great summer.
On Friday, Rudd opened this week’s star-studded tournament against American Riley Opelka.
– He ranks 10th in the world – and has a great future, says Borg, who jokes about the rivalry between Norway and Sweden.
– We don’t like each other. No, I’m kidding, Borg smiles.
Beat all opponents
The Laver Cup has participated in the program on only three occasions. Each time, “Europe” outperformed “The World” in the tournament, which brings together twelve of the best tennis players in the world. Now the Europeans play away in Boston:
– I think the public will be against us. We know we are the favorites, but everyone is looking forward to this challenge, says Alexander Zverev.
He is one of Rod’s five teammates. Team Europe consists of US Open winner Daniil Medvedev (second in the world), Olympic champion Zverev (4), French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Andrei Rublyov (5) and Matteo Berrettini (7).
Team Europe: Back from left: Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Deputy Captain Thomas Enqvist, Captain Bjorn Borg, Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas. First row: reserve players Cameron Nouri, Casper Rudd, first reserve Feliciano Lopez and Andrei Rublyov.
Photo: Clive Brunskill/AFP
– This is the future of tennis. Borg says of the all-star team that they will win many championships together.
Casper is very smart
Rublyov was asked who he preferred advice from during the fight. He didn’t want advice from Tsitsipas the Greek who was known to take long toilet breaks in battles, and neither did Rod:
– Casper is too smart for me, the Russian smiles.
Facing strong opposition
John McEnroe’s global team consists of Canadian duo Felix Auger-Aliassime (11 in the world), Denis Shapovalov (12), Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman (15), serving specialists Opelka (19) and John Isner (22). As tennis rebel Nick Kyrgios (95).
World Team: Fv Diego Schartzman, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nick Kyrgios, Reserve Jack Sock, John Isner og Reilly Opelka.
Photo: Adam Glanzmann/AFP
Casper Rudd beat them all during his career.
- Laver Cup offered on Eurosport 1 and Discovery +.
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