When the inaugural Laver Cup was held in 2017, the famous figures of rivals-turned-friends Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe were one of the most striking components of the brand-new team competition.“To be able to look on the other side and see my greatest rival and great friend, Bjorn Borg, and have my brother as my right-hand man, it’s pretty hard to top that for me personally,” said McEnroe when he visited Berlin.
The seven events since have offered innumerable highlights featuring the two tennis titans, culminating on Sunday with the most dramatic of comeback victories for Team Europe and Borg’s fifth championship. For the players on the court, the Laver Cup has provided an opportunity to meet two of their idols.
“Pretty surreal” “Legend” is a word that appears frequently when players from both Team Europe and Team World describe their captains. Laver Cup debutants Flavio Cobolli (Europe) and Alejandro Tabilo (World) have had the opportunity to learn from the greatest.
“Having just a little bit of contact with Borg for me means a lot,” Cabolli said with pride. “I was born with him and John playing only on YouTube, so I want to say thanks for everything, you know.”
Tabilo agreed: “Yeah, it’s quite odd to have a legend like McEnroe giving us advice and everything; it’s amazing. Obviously, I’ll try to use that throughout the remainder of the year. “For the rest of my career.”
Casper Ruud, who has played in the Laver Cup multiple times, recalls his first encounter with the legends. “I think the first time I played on the team, I didn’t know Bjorn very well, so I was quite nervous to play for him and meet him,” he admitted.
“He’s a super nice guy, and we’ve had a good relationship – me being Norwegian, him Swedish, it’s pretty close and it’s just me.
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