Second edition of Laver Cup to be staged in U.S.

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Tennis Association has joined in the partnership launching the new Laver Cup team competition and will help stage the second edition of the event in the United States in 2018.

The Laver Cup, named after twice calendar-year grand slam champion Rod Laver, is a three-day team competition modeled on golf’s Ryder Cup, pitting a team of six top players from Europe against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world.

For the first three years, Bjorn Borg will captain Europe and John McEnroe will lead The World in matches comprised of two singles and a doubles match each day.

Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have committed to compete for Europe in the inaugural Laver Cup, which will take place from Sept. 22-24, 2017, at the O2 arena, in Prague, Czech Republic.

“Sports truly transcends borders,” USTA Chairman of the Board and President Katrina Adams said in a statement.

“We believe the Laver Cup will become one of the pre-eminent tennis events in the sport and will bring an exciting new tennis competition to U.S. fans.”

The event, to be staged in 2018 at a yet-to-be-determined U.S. site, will return to the United States on a rotating basis.

(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)