Team World triumphed over Team Europe at the 2023 Laver Cup in Vancouver. The challenge spread over the weekend, with its co-founder Roger Federer present in the stands on Friday, saw the team led by John McEnroe close with 13 victories to 2.
Team World confirms itself as champion for the second consecutive year. John McEnroe talked about the victory in the press conference, also making fun of Team Europe’s rivals.
The captain of Team World said he was very satisfied to have confirmed last year’s title, explaining: “On behalf of all of Team World, I am proud of these guys. We have put together a very young and experienced team, guys who are already been here, and everyone played very well.
It was a great week, we kicked their ass, I say that with love, but that’s what we did. Now we’re already thinking about next year, because as we know, winning is always much better than losing.
We fought hard for the first few years and now we have finally tasted the taste of victory. It’s a great feeling, so thanks to these guys and also to my brother, my right-hand man for all these years.”
McEnroe on the relationshio with his players
The former American legend one then talked about his relationship with the players: “All these guys have people around them, so I tried to understand what motivates each of them in a very short period of time. If I could add that little in these days, it would be enough to bring a little energy and passion into their daily lives.
I think the kids already know what it’s about, they know that I like it and that I really believe in the format. I hope it has great success in the future, that’s the goal, we need to cultivate it a lot so that it continues for many years to come. Even when I’m no longer here. All the players we have, including our substitutes, stepped up and won that game in the end, you could see they made a great combination.
What Taylor said is very fitting, a team event like this is not only good for the sport, but also good for the players in the sense that they can come together and unite. Because in many tournaments it’s like an unwritten rule: you can’t rely on anyone, you only have to worry about yourself. In my opinion, these team events are even more important to do all this and to do it successfully, as we demonstrated in this edition.”