In Monfils’s opening service game, an exaggerated shimmy of the hips as he dodged a stray ball drew a ripple of laughter from the audience. Having held, he engaged in some light-hearted banter, first with his team-mates, then with nearby spectators. Before long, Monfils was mischievously enquiring of the chair umpire whether it was “home” officiating”, then sitting down beside a linesman in mock disbelief after successfully challenging a call for the second time in the space of a few minutes. 

It is not difficult to see why Monfils is so widely loved by the paying public. At 37, the former US Open semi-finalist’s rubber-limbed body is less compliant than it once was, but his persona and his shot-making remain as beguiling as ever. The Laver Cup is many things but, unless you fancy being stuck up in the gods, cheap is not one of them; a decent seat for the opening day in Vancouver would have set you back up to $630. Yet, as Monfils went about his business with his customary sense of showmanship, few in the audience could have felt short-changed. 

The one person not laughing was Auger-Aliassime. And with five games gone, the Canadian world No 14 made his feelings known to Greg Allensworth, the chair umpire – in the process articulating a fundamental question about the nature of the event. 

“Is it a full-on exhibition or are you sticking to the ATP rules?” asked Auger-Aliassime. 

“It’s kind of, er, ATP rules,” replied Allensworth, apparently not entirely sure himself. 

“Are you telling me that’s normal?” demanded Auger-Aliassime. “He sits down for like 30 seconds? I mean, that’s a time violation warning, it’s not, ‘I’m going to talk to him.’ Because I can play games too.”

Allensworth might have retorted that the Laver Cup has never been “normal” – which, of course, is precisely its charm. Inspired by Rod Laver, the greatest champion of the 60s, captained by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, two of the biggest stars of the 70s and early 80s, and founded by a modern grandee in Roger Federer, the competition is a monument to the sport’s heritage, a marriage of champions past, present and future. The sight of players who spend most of the year trying to beat seven bells out of each other casting aside their differences to exchange tactical advice and vociferous support never gets old.

Inevitably, though, a competition that marches to the beat of its own drum can hardly be seen as standard ATP fare. Unlike a normal tour event – or, indeed, the Ryder Cup, on which it is broadly based – participation in the Laver Cup is by invitation rather than ranking. The players are well rewarded for their involvement – again, unlike their golfing counterparts – while the use of a 10-point “Laver breaker” in lieu of a deciding set only heightens the sense that, even if it has been part of the ATP calendar since 2019, the tournament bears all the hallmarks of an exhibition.

In truth, this dualism has been embedded in the Laver Cup from the beginning. “Guys coming together, playing for the right reasons, and Rod Laver, and spending a cool week together, and trying our absolute best and just having a good time,” was how Federer characterised his vision for the competition before the inaugural edition in Prague in 2017. And in many ways the Laver Cup has fulfilled that remit, combining spirited battle with spirited camaraderie to forge a spectacle full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. 

But what happens when those twin imperatives clash? What happens when one player is out to have a good time and the other is determined to try his best? A meeting between Monfils, revelling in his first invitation to represent Team Europe, and Auger-Aliassime, desperate to get a disappointing season back on track and understandably eager to deliver a good performance before his home crowd, offered an opportunity to find out. And the answer wasn’t pretty. 

Unhappy about Auger-Aliassime’s remarks to Allensworth, Monfils twice confronted his opponent at the change of ends. “I’m playing, like, serious,” Auger-Aliassime told the Frenchman. As he later explained to his team-mates, Monfils regarded the event in a different light. “They called me, they told me, ‘Oh, the Laver Cup is so nice, you can be free,’” he said. “Me, I’m here to have fun.” At which, Auger-Aliassime seemed incredulous. “What have the people that brought him here told him?” wondered the 23-year-old out loud. “I just think it’s unfortunate for everyone involved.”

The latter point was undeniable, the remainder of an initially promising contest played out with the two men at opposite mental and emotional poles. While Monfils appeared to completely lose interest, Auger-Aliassime remained almost comically engaged, fist-pumping his way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory against an opponent who had long since thrown in the towel. 

Excuses can be made on both sides. Auger-Aliassime did what was necessary and will no doubt have been relieved to claim only his second win of a dismal summer. Monfils, meanwhile, appeared to have been mis-sold the concept. Yet neither man exactly covered himself in glory. Auger-Aliassime’s initial protest seemed disproportionate, and for all that he later explained he was simply trying to stand up for himself and not let his opponent “take too much ground”, it did feel rather as though the Canadian had parlayed a molehill into something rather more mountainous.

In mitigation, it can hardly have helped that McEnroe was talking of Monfils “hamming it up” as early as the second changeover, or that Frances Tiafoe was warning: “He’s going to be playing games with you all night.” Why pour fuel on a fire that had shown no obvious sign of starting? It was not as though Auger-Aliassime returned to his chair ranting and raving about his opponent’s tactics. Monfils had not been playing particularly slowly, as so many news reports subsequently suggested. The Frenchman’s impromptu sit-down lasted about half the 30 seconds claimed by Auger-Aliassime, and there were no other significant delays. Yet things escalated to the point where, by the end of the first set, Auger-Aliassime could be heard proclaiming: “Tanking in the Laver Cup is crazy,” which risked inflaming the situation further.  

Neither was it Monfils’s finest hour. His subsequent dismissal of the episode as a “trifle” rather ignored the fact that his team-mates were reduced to labouring in vain to persuade him to put a shift in. As the early games demonstrated, a more sustained and determined application of Monfils’s fleet-footed defence and virtuoso shot-making would have posed Auger-Aliassime plenty of problems. Instead, as Rublev sank to his knees imploring, “Gaël, please”, an initially competitive match became a procession. 

Uncompetitive Laver Cup matches are hardly a new phenomenon, of course. Two years ago, when Team Europe clinched a fourth straight victory with a 14-1 rout at Boston’s TD Garden, everyone wondered where the event was going. Team World’s 13-2 victory this year showed that question is as pertinent as ever. The identity of the winning team may have changed, but the underlying issue remains unresolved; plus ça change, as some in Vancouver might say.

ATP tournament or exhibition? This year, the Laver Cup was neither. The lopsided nature of the contest made it unrecognisable as a tour event, while the absence of the big four, compounded by the unavailability of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune, rendered it a shadow of the star vehicle of previous years. With Federer retired, and Nadal and Andy Murray likely to go the same way before long, the event needs bona fide champions if it is to live up to its extravagant billing. Instead, for the first time since the Laver Cup’s inception in 2017, neither team had a grand slam winner in its ranks. 

No wonder Federer expressed hope that Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz would turn out in Berlin next year. In the absence of the best two players in the world, the watching Swiss remained front and centre in Vancouver, just as he was during last year’s tearful farewell in London. Yet even a living legend like Federer can only do so much to compensate for a lack of competition. Ultimately, people pay to watch good tennis – be it an exhibition match or something more.

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A new world order is emerging, one in which youth makes no apology for upsetting the apple cart – and never mind how many grand slam trophies it may contain. 

No one at the Laver Cup has embodied that spirit more vibrantly than Frances Tiafoe, the magnetic 24-year-old American who partnered his compatriot Jack Sock to victory over Federer and Nadal on Friday night.

Teed up beautifully by his team-mate Felix Auger-Aliassime, who earlier upset Djokovic in straight sets to put Team World on the cusp of victory, Tiafoe saved four match points en route to a dramatic 1-6, 7-6 (11), 10-8 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, sealing a momentous 13-8 win for his team.

If it was a disappointing outcome for Federer and company, the ebullient Tiafoe was not about to apologise – least of all for his role in derailing the Swiss legend’s retirement party.

“Absolutely not,” said Tiafoe. “I want to see him lit, but I’m not going to apologise to him. He’s got a lot to apologise [for] after the last 24 years, after beating everybody on the tour.  

“No, I won’t apologise, but I will say thank you for having me in this amazing event [and] also say thank you for what he did for the game. He’s a class act. Happy to know him, happy to call him friend, happy to call him a colleague, and best wishes in his second act. But I will not apologise.” 

McEnroe’s men began the afternoon trailing their European counterparts 8-4, but with each win worth three points on the final day, they acquired an unstoppable momentum once Auger-Aliassime had partnered Jack Sock to a 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 win over Murray and Matteo Berrettini in the opening match. 

Tiafoe’s victory was all the more impressive for the manner in which he turned things around after a blistering start by Tsitsipas. The Greek world No 6 initially picked up from where he left off on the opening day, when he blitzed Diego Schwartzman for the loss of just three games. But Tiafoe, roared on by his team-mates, was the more courageous player down the stretch, punishing the frequently questionable shot selection of Tsitsipas – who seemed determined to draw the American forward with short sliced backhands rather than driving through the ball – as he fought like his life depended on it.  

“There was a great team spirit, so we were battling from the beginning,” said McEnroe, who was dancing with joy by the end. “I think we felt that it is the big four, but obviously the circumstances are a little different than they could have been 10 years ago, five years ago.  We knew we had a shot at it, but it was an uphill battle.”

Circumstances are indeed different. Federer, his race finally run, was reduced to the role of cheerleader-cum-super coach, dispensing pearls of wisdom at the changeovers (“I know you like to play fast, but not now,” he implored Tsitsipas during the critical second-set tiebreak) while occasionally looking as though he wanted to tear out his immaculately coiffured hair. Nadal curtailed his involvement after his old rival’s emotional sendoff on the the opening night, returning to his home in Mallorca, where his wife is expecting their first child. Murray, who has been competing with a metal hip for the past three years, struggled to hit the high notes on a slow, gritty hard court that was never likely to bring out the best in his game.

That left Djokovic to shoulder the hopes of Team Europe, a task that looked well within his capabilities after the heroics of Saturday, when he returned to the match court after an absence of more than two months to demolish Tiafoe 6-1, 6-3 before partnering Matteo Berrettini to a 7-5, 6-2 over Alex de Minaur and Sock. Yet even the Serb has his limits, and having not played since beating Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final, it was little wonder that he appeared hampered by a sore wrist against Auger-Aliassime, whose near-flawless performance would have presented a stern challenge at the best of times.  

The first half of 2022 may have belonged to the old guard, with Nadal winning the Australian and French Opens, and Djokovic claiming a seventh Wimbledon title, but the past month has been about the rise of a new generation of challengers. 

Carlos Alcaraz, 19, ushered in a fresh dawn at the US Open, becoming the first teenager to win a major title since Nadal in 2005 and the youngest world No 1 in history. Now Auger-Aliassime and Tiafoe – himself a semi-finalist in New York, where he pushed Alcaraz all the way in a five-set epic – have picked up the baton. 

“To do it here in Laver Cup, win for the first time, how bad Mac wanted it, how bad everybody else wanted it – seeing what Felix did, and Jack – I thought it was just time,” said Tiafoe. “It was time to get it done.”

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To Wimbledon in 2003, when the Swiss was overwhelmed in similar fashion, tearfully addressing the Centre Court after the first of his 20 grand slam triumphs. To Melbourne in 2009, when he was unable to disguise his devastation after losing a third straight major final to Rafael Nadal. To Paris five months later, when he wept joyfully on completing the career grand slam at Roland Garros. 

Victory and defeat. Triumph and disaster. Kipling’s two great impostors treated just the same. If Federer’s past told us anything, it was that any attempt to keep his emotions in check would prove fruitless – and that we, inevitably, would be taken with him. It is part of what has made him so easily relatable for all these years: the knowledge that, for all his ethereal talent, he is, at heart, as human as the rest of us. 

The whimpering enquiry the Swiss made of Jim Courier as he began the emotional courtside interview that followed the final match of his career – “We’ll get through this somehow, will we? Right?” – cast the mind back to Centre Court 19 years ago, when Federer displayed similar vulnerability before Sue Barker. 

As he reflected on his journey since – from “a boy playing tennis, then a junior champion, then a world champion, then a sporting icon,” as Courier eloquently put it – Federer seemed almost unchanged from his 21-year-old self. Even his words were similar. “This is great,” Federer told Barker as he dissolved into tears almost two decades ago; “It’s been great, it’s been so much fun,” he told Courier on Friday night, adding that he had never dreamed he would scale such heights.

“It was never supposed to be that way. I was just happy to play tennis and spend time with my friends, really. It’s been a perfect journey, I would do it all over again.”

Even Rafael Nadal, a man not readily given to public displays of sentiment, was reduced to emotional rubble. The sight of the two great champions sitting at courtside afterwards, hand in hand and bawling their eyeballs out – surely Ellie Goulding’s vocal performance wasn’t that bad? – instantly became one of the game’s most poignant and unforgettable images. 

In years to come, few will remember that Nadal had just partnered Federer to a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 11-9 doubles defeat against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe at the Laver Cup. For once, the outcome was almost immaterial, as Federer later acknowledged.

“The match in itself, sure, is special, but it’s really everything that happened after, because I wasn’t aware who was going to come to sing, what was going to happen, where I should go, what was expected of me, or how long it was going to go [on]. 

“Then I guess looking around, and seeing how everybody got emotional, obviously it’s even better – or even worse, I’m not sure what to say. That’s what I will remember, is the faces I saw emotional. Rafa was one of them.”

It was indicative of the intensity of the occasion that even Nadal, the champion of a men’s record 22 majors, struggled to cast aside the enormity of it all. For 18 years, ever since they first locked horns in Miami in 2004, the Spaniard has vied with Federer on the game’s grandest stages; now, at the end, the pair were united not only as doubles partners but also by the sense of a shared loss, one that will be felt across the sport.

“The first couple of serves for me were super difficult,” said Nadal. “I was not able to do the normal movement. I started with a double fault. I was shaking a little bit. [It has] been a difficult day to handle every single thing, and at the end everything became super emotional.  

“For me, it [has been] a huge honour to be a part of this amazing moment in the history of our sport, and at the same time a lot of years sharing a lot of things together.  

“When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too, because of all the moments that he has been next [to me] or in front me in important moments of my life.”

Federer said he had worried for weeks beforehand about addressing the crowd afterwards, and his gratitude to Courier was as plain as his appreciation for his team-mates, among whom were old foes Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. 

“This is the part I was extremely worried about, taking the microphone,” said Federer. “All I told Tony [Godsick, his long-time agent] was I want to be able to have an evening where I do not have to take the mic. 

“I know how impossible I am on the mic when I am emotional, because I had it many times before. But I was able to remind myself always on the court again how wonderful this is. This is not the end-end, you know, life goes on. I’m healthy, I’m happy, everything’s great, and this is just a moment in time.”

It was a moment that few will forget.

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To nobody’s great surprise, the schedule for the opening day’s play at the O2 Arena brought confirmation that the pair would rekindle a partnership first unveiled at the Ryder Cup-style event in Prague five years ago. 

Federer and Nadal, representing Team Europe, will take on the all-American Team World pairing of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

“I’m not sure if I can handle it all,” said Federer, contemplating what promises to be a momentous, emotionally charged evening following last week’s announcement that he will retire at the annual event he established five years ago. 

“I’ll try. I have had some tougher moments as well in the past, being horribly nervous all these years sometimes before matches. This one definitely feels a whole lot different.

“Of course, it’s super special playing with Rafa. Feels really different, you know. Also, just walking out on court and having the chance to play with the likes of Rafa or Novak [Djokovic] in the past has been an amazing experience for me. So to be able to do that one more time, I’m sure it’s going to be wonderful.

“Like I said, I will try my very best. I hope to be good out there, and of course I will enjoy it, but it will be hard.”

Though Federer’s ailing knees have ruled him out of singles contention in London, it is hard to imagine a more fitting send-off for the 41-year-old. His rivalry with Nadal, which began in Miami in 2004 and reached its apotheosis in 2008, when the pair contested an epic Wimbledon final that is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches of all time, has had a defining influence on the careers of both men.

Nadal, who won 24 of their 40 meetings despite a late-career burst from Federer that earned the Swiss victory in six of their last seven meetings – most notably the Australian Open final of 2017, when both men were returning from extended injury layoffs – struck a similarly upbeat note as Team Europe faced the press in London on Thursday. 

“After all the amazing things that we shared together on and off court, to be part of this historic moment is going to be something amazing, unforgettable for me,” said Nadal. “[I’m] super excited. I hope I can have a good chance to play at a decent level, and hopefully together we can create a good moment and maybe win a match.

“Having Roger next to me one more time will be something that I am very [much] looking forward [to]. Just very happy for that.”

Asked what memories of his rivalry with Federer he would most cherish, Nadal said the enduring cordiality of their off-court relationship outweighed the significance of their meetings between the lines. The Spaniard emphasised the wider significance of Federer’s place in the sport’s pantheon, but admitted the Swiss had perhaps been the most important figure in his own career, adding that it would be “difficult” to bid farewell to the 20-time grand slam champion.

“I think the memories that Roger brings to the sport, in my personal way, they are not only in matches against me,” said Nadal. “

“I saw him playing comfortably before I arrived on tour. I saw him having success on TV, and then [we were] able to create an amazing rivalry together.

“On the other hand, something that probably we are [both] very proud [of], it has been a friendly rivalry. Not easy, sometimes, because we are playing for such an important things for our tennis career, but at the same time we were able to understand that, at the end, personal relationships are more important than professional things sometimes. We were able to handle it, I think, the proper way.

“Tomorrow is going to be a special thing. I think very difficult. Gonna be difficult to handle everything, especially for Roger, without a doubt. For me too. You know, at the end one of the most important players, if not most important player in my tennis career, is leaving, no? At the end, [to] live this moment will be difficult. I am super excited and grateful to play with him.”

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Federer, the winner of 20 grand slam singles titles, revealed in a press conference in London that he will play his final match at the Laver Cup on Friday alongside a yet-to-be-named doubles partner and with Bjorn Borg, the Team Europe captain, sitting at courtside. 

It is perhaps not the way a player of Federer’s singular gifts would have imagined bowing out, but the Swiss has long known there would be no fairytale ending in the manner of Pete Sampras, the great American against whom he announced his arrival at Wimbledon in 2001, who marked his final appearance with victory in the US Open final. Having “stopped believing” that he could come back after undergoing surgery on his right knee for the third time in 18 months after Wimbledon last summer, the 41-year-old said he would not have it any other way.

“I just thought it was very fitting,” said Federer. “Having Bjorn Borg on the bench with me for my final game resonated in a big way with me. Having all the other guys around just felt like I was not going to be lonely announcing my retirement. 

“I always feel sorry for players who retire on the tour [and] say, ‘I’m going to play one more match,’ then at one point you lose and there you stand, all alone. Obviously, 99% of the time you will lose at one point, because only one guy wins the tournament. I just felt like this works very well here.”

Federer said he had contemplated announcing his retirement before the US Open, but wanted to be present when the moment came and had, in any case, been beaten to the punch by Serena Williams, who announced her own farewell in the build-up to the season’s final slam. Instead, he revealed that his time was up in an announcement on social media last week.

Unlike Williams, who rode a tide of emotion to the third round at Flushing Meadows before falling to Ajla Tomljanovic, Federer will occupy a shared stage in his final match. It is normally a requirement of the Ryder Cup-style competition that only players participating in the singles can feature in doubles. Yet no one was about to deny the Swiss the chance to go out on his own terms at an event that owes its very existence to him. Ever respectful of the game, he nonetheless sought permission from Borg, Team World captain John McEnroe and the ATP to limit his involvement to Friday night’s doubles rubber.

“Of course, this is an ATP event that I don’t want to mess with,” said Federer. “But at the same time, I know my limitations.  

“So here I am trying to prepare for one last doubles, and we’ll see with who it is. I’m obviously nervous going in, because I haven’t played in so long. I hope I can be somewhat competitive.”

The focus will now shift to who will partner Federer, although it would be something of a surprise if it were anyone other than Rafael Nadal. Asked if the prospect of rekindling his 2019 Laver Cup partnership with his great rival would appeal, the Swiss did little to play down the idea.

“Of course, no doubt,” said Federer. “I think it could be quite a unique situation if it were to happen. For as long as we battled together, having always this respect for one another, the families, our coaching teams, we always got along really well. 

“For us as well to go through a career that we both have had, and to come out on the other side and being able to have a nice relationship, I think is maybe a great message as well to not just tennis, but sports and maybe even beyond. 

“For that reason, I think it would be great. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I think it could be obviously a special moment.”

Federer eclipsed Sampras’s then-record tally of 14 majors with his 2009 victory over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, and went on to win five more slams. Nadal and Novak Djokovic have since overtaken him, respectively winning 22 and 21 titles, but Federer – who won 103 titles in all, and spent a record 237 consecutive weeks at world No 1 – said he was content with his place in the pantheon.

“I’m definitely very proud and very happy where I sit,” he said. “One of my big moments, of course, was winning my 15th slam at Wimbledon, when Pete [Sampras] was sitting there. Anything after that was a bonus. 

“That was the record, you know, and then of course it was other records along the way. But nowadays, I think, and it will only increase, players will want to chase records. It’s true at some point I kind of probably did as well, but not the first years until I got closer to Pete’s record.  

“For me, it was about how did I manage my schedule, was I happy on and off the court, did I like my life on the tour? And I did. I think I had the best of times.”

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Djokovic, who indicated during his run to a seventh Wimbledon title that his agent was in talks over a possible appearance at the three-day event, has confirmed that he will be part of the Team Europe side at London’s O2 Arena in September.

The Serb’s only previous appearance at the Laver Cup came in 2018, when he played alongside Federer as Team Europe claimed a 13-8 victory in Chicago. 

“It’s the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you’re normally competing against,” said Djokovic. “To be joining Rafa, Roger and Andy – three of my biggest all-time rivals – it’s going to be a truly unique moment in the history of our sport.”

The 35-year-old’s decision to play may have been simplified by the increasing unlikelihood that he will be allowed to compete at the US Open. Djokovic was named on the initial entry list for the season’s final major, but US government rules stipulate that foreign travellers must be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to enter the country. 

The US Open said in a statement that, while all eligible players were automatically entered, the tournament would respect government rules. As things stand, that would leave Djokovic – who remains unvaccinated against the virus – unable to enter the country.

“The US Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players, but it will respect the US government’s position regarding travel into the country for unvaccinated non-US citizens,” said the statement.  

While that means the pursuit of Nadal’s landmark tally of 22 majors will probably have to wait until next season, Djokovic will nonetheless have the opportunity to be part of a historic alliance at the Laver Cup, where Bjorn Borg will once again captain Team Europe against a Team World side led by John McEnroe.

“I don’t think I could have imagined having these four icons of the sport on one team together,” said Borg, looking ahead to the union of a quartet with a collective haul of 66 majors. 

“I know they, like I, appreciate the significance of this moment and will be truly up for it. Each year our goal is to win. With Rafa, Roger, Andy and Novak on the team, I like our chances.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Diego Schwartzman have all confirmed their intention to play for McEnroe’s team.

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“You have to be realistic,” said Ann Jones, the former Wimbledon and French Open champion and a regular captain of the British team. “We haven’t done very well over the last few years.”

Nobody would wish the Laver Cup to go the same way, but Sunday’s anticlimactic finale at Boston’s TD Garden offered a salutary warning about the dangers of lopsided competition. With Team Europe leading 11-1 after the first two days’ play, Team World’s slender hopes of claiming a first victory at the nascent event hinged on winning all four of the scheduled matches. Instead, the whole thing was done and dusted in less than two hours, as Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev subdued Reilly Opelka and Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 10-3 to complete a 14-1 rout. 

Team Europe has now won each of the competition’s first four editions. A 15-9 victory at the inaugural event in Prague four years ago was followed by a 13-8 triumph in Chicago the year after, before Bjorn Borg’s men edged a 13-11 thriller in Geneva in 2019. The Laver Cup remains a fantastic spectacle, and the novelty of watching the sport’s star individuals cast aside their competitive differences and join forces in pursuit of a common goal is not about to wear off anytime soon. An event that can unite Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as a doubles pair, as happened in 2017, or offer amusing moments like the one that saw Daniil Medvedev attempting to cast Matteo Berrettini in his own mould by advising the big-hitting Italian just to focus on making more balls, is unlikely to want for spectators in the short term. Equally, uncertainty is the lifeblood of sport and, if the Laver Cup continues in its present one-sided vein, there will inevitably come a time when entertaining vignettes are no longer enough to put bums on seats. Federer, the event’s godfather, understands this well, and it may explain why Andrey Rublev jokingly accused the Swiss of supporting Team World at one point during the weekend. 

With Federer and Nadal recovering from injury, and Novak Djokovic taking a well-earned rest after falling at the final hurdle in his bid for a calendar-year grand slam, this was meant to be the year when Team World finally stepped up. “This is our time,” promised Nick Kyrgios on the eve of the tournament. While that always smacked of optimism, given that Team Europe had six of the world’s top-10 players in their ranks, the unbalanced nature of the contest still came as something of a surprise. The result certainly gave the lie to any suggestion that the Laver Cup is nothing more than a glorified exhibition. What happened in Boston was more execution than exhibition.

There was a wry smile from John McEnroe, the Team World captain, when Borg pointed out in his post-victory address that there were “a lot of close matches, and it could have gone either way”. While there was a germ of truth in that assessment – six of the nine matches went to tiebreaks – Team World were well beaten in the end, as McEnroe conceded.  

“Obviously, if you get a couple of different results, we could have put more pressure on them, but we just came up short in [five] tiebreakers,” said McEnroe. “Win half those and it’s a totally different story. Even other matches, we had a chance to get in. We gave it our best, but they were too good.”

What then to do? An obvious option would be to introduce women into the mix. For years, the women’s game has featured a revolving carousel of geographically diverse major champions. Imagine a Team World side bolstered by the inclusion of Serena Williams, Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka, or a Team Europe featuring the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Karolina Pliskova. It would showcase the game in a more inclusive light, further broaden the Laver Cup’s audience and appeal, and add a fresh dimension to the competition’s format, allowing women’s and mixed doubles into the picture. 

McEnroe has called for the tournament to be afforded greater prominence, arguing that it is a mistake to dilute its impact by allowing other events to run concurrently. “I don’t think there should be any tournaments going on if they want to try to get to the level of a Ryder Cup, say. It’s got to stand on its own,” said the former world No 1. “It’s not going to be like, ‘Well, other players need to be able to play and … get their points at the [tournament] in Kazakhstan or wherever they are right now.’ I just don’t agree with that. I think it’s a mistake by the ATP.”

What if the entire tennis world, ATP and WTA events alike, stood still for a Laver Cup bolstered by the world’s best women? At a stroke, the profile of the tournament would be further magnified and, crucially, the event would become more competitive.

Whatever happens next, there is no denying the Laver Cup’s singular attraction. With its distinctive black courts and association with Rod Laver, Federer, Borg and McEnroe, as well as young, rising champions like Zverev and Medvedev, it has quickly established its own distinct sense of history and tradition. It features a stellar cast that unites the game’s past, present and future. Players and public alike love it. It is, in short, unique. But then so was the Wightman Cup.

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“In practice I was playing pretty good, which I was surprised by because usually, when I don’t take a racket for some days, I lose it really fast,” said Medvedev, the world No 2. “But the confidence of winning a grand slam of course helps, and I think that’s what got me going today because there were a few moments in the first set where I was kind of not sure what I was doing. 

“I remember the first break point I gave him an easy shot and you are like doubting a little bit. Could have played better, he won the game. But then everything [came] together and the only thing I was saying to myself was, you know, ‘Believe in yourself, you are playing great, and just put pressure on him.’”

Shapovalov started in typically swashbuckling style, drawing on the full range of his extensive repertoire as he swept away forehand winners, charged in behind his serve and feathered drop shots. Having survived a break point to clinch a lengthy fifth game, the 12th-ranked Canadian celebrated wildly, doing his best to whip the crowd into a frenzy. John McEnroe, the Team World captain, dished out bananas and volleying advice at the change of ends. 

Medvedev, meanwhile, went calmly about his business, flying through his service games and settling into his rhythm from the baseline. There was a fleeting moment of worry for the Russian in the eighth game when he was taken to deuce for the first time, but there is nothing quite like a 128mph to settle the nerves, and having quelled the danger he did not lose another game. 

“He started pretty well, was going to the net,” said Medvedev. “When you play a match for the first time in a few days, a passing shot is a tough shot to make because you really have a small margin to pass a guy. He was surprising me with some shots, so I needed to adapt. The first break, with the new balls, so I could go a little bit faster and he didn’t have time to prepare for his big shots, helped me to gain confidence and to feel like, ‘OK, that’s the moment where I can completely close the match,’ and that’s what happened.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier defeated Nick Kyrgios, winning 100% of the points behind his first serve in the opening set and surviving a shoe malfunction in the second to see out a 6-3, 6-4 win. Alexander Zverev then continued Team Europe’s dominance with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 10-5 victory, before Tsitsipas teamed up with Andrey Rublev in the final match of the day to subdue John Isner and Kyrgios 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 10-4. 

With each win on day two worth two points, double the value of the opening day’s matches, Team Europe’s lead now stands at 11-1. It leaves Team World requiring four wins from four matches on the final day, when each match will be worth three points.

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“It’s special when you play for more than just yourself, everyone would agree with that assessment,” said John Isner on the eve of the event, as he looked ahead to Team World’s prospects of claiming a first victory in a tournament that has become tennis’s answer to the Ryder Cup.

But it’s one thing to talk about camaraderie, quite another to demonstrate it.

While Isner and Nick Kyrgios, Laver Cup veterans both, spoke earnestly and eloquently of the special appeal of a team event in what is, for the most part, an unrelentingly individual sport, their Team Europe counterparts channelled a more relaxed and jovial vibe. Andrey Rublev had not even started answering his first question before he dissolved into laugher. “They are making fun of me,” he smiled, looking down the table at his team-mates. Bjorn Borg joked about relations between his native Sweden and Casper Ruud’s Norway. And when one questioner cut out after offering greetings from the Novak Djokovic Tennis Centre in Belgrade, Daniil Medvedev quipped, “Novak has to work on the Wi-Fi in his centre”, before suggesting that he wouldn’t be playing doubles because “I’m not really good.”

It helps that Team Europe has six of the world’s top-10 players. An unbeaten record in the Laver Cup also goes a long way towards alleviating any sense of pressure. And, of course, you might expect a side captained by John McEnroe and spearheaded by Nick Kyrgios to have a certain brooding intensity relative to a team led by Borg, the serene Swede they once called the ice man of tennis. 

The real proof of unity comes on court, however – and there too Team Europe had the edge. The opening match pitted a pair of Laver Cup debutants against one another, the 10th-ranked Ruud taking on Reilly Opelka, the world No 19. With the big-serving Opelka struggling to make his power tell in what he later called “the slowest conditions I’ve ever played in”, Ruud’s superior consistency proved decisive, the Norwegian seizing an early break to lay the foundations for a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory. 

So how was it, Opelka was asked afterwards, having the likes of McEnroe and Kyrgios in his corner? Nice, replied the American, who said he could see how McEnroe’s competitive spirit and positivity once made him such a great player. Then came the killer caveat: “At the end of the day, I’ve played 20 weeks this year – I know my game the best, I have the best feel for what’s going on out there.”

Asked a similar question, Ruud offered a significantly warmer response. “Borg is one of the first real legends, and to have him on the bench is incredible, it’s been a dream of mine,” said the Norwegian, the beneficiary of some animated tactical advice from Alexander Zverev midway through the second set. “It’s a great feeling, I have great team-mates. It’s a really fun experience.”

The entertainment factor was ramped up further when Roger Federer, the event’s godfather, appeared in the stands early in the first set. It says something about the stature of a player when he receives the loudest cheer of the night without actually picking up a racket, but such is the status of the Swiss, who is convalescing after his latest bout of knee surgery. “The crowd was going crazy, it gave me chills,” said Ruud. “The hair was rising on my arms.”

The Team World challenge looked to be on a similarly upward trajectory when Felix Auger-Aliassime took the opening set against Matteo Berrettini. Full of confidence after his run to the US Open semi-finals, the 11th-ranked Canadian looked poised to repeat his recent victory over Berrettini in Cincinnati when he led 7-5 in the match tiebreak, only for the Italian to complete his recovery with a 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 10-8 victory. 

One for the team, perhaps, Matteo? “I felt a different energy,” said Berrettini after a contest that, at two hours and 52 minutes, was the longest in the competition’s short history. “I was playing for my team, not just for myself. It felt great, and they helped me a lot.”

In another thrilling finish, Rublev recovered from 6-2 in the match tiebreak against Diego Schwartzman to give Team Europe a 3-0 lead. Schwartzman stood within two points of the match at 8-5, before Rublev clawed his way back to 9-8. The Russian squandered the match point with a double fault, but he recovered to win a lung-busting 24-shot rally on his second, slotting away a forehand volley to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 win. 

Team World belatedly got a point on the board when Isner and Denis Shapovalov beat Berrettini and Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-1 in the doubles. Given the format of the competition, which sees two points awarded for a win on the second day, and three on the final day, there is still plenty to play for.  

“I think we’ve got a great team spirit,” said McEnroe, who will be eager to harness the support of the home crowd on day two. “But we’ve got to step up.”

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