Europe Vice-Captain Tim Henman was full of praise for his team after they beat Team World 13-5 to secure their sixth Laver Cup title at London’s O2 Arena, and was quick to declare his admiration for the event as a whole, which featured five sold out sessions and supporters travelling from all over the world.
The annual event, which now has a fixed place in the ATP Calendar offering significant financial rewards including $250,000 to each member of the winning team, attracts some of the biggest names in tennis and offers the rare chance for top players to compete as teammates creating a Ryder-Cup style atmosphere on court.
“When I reflect on the Laver Cup, we’ve got plenty of history and tradition in our sport, but we also need innovation,” he said. “What Laver Cup has done and when you think about what works in tennis: we’re in the entertainment business. When you bring the best players in the world together, we have had 12 of the top 22 in the world, in a great city, great stadium, we’ve got incredible partners and sponsors for this event, and then you fill the stadium out, you see the intensity, the rivalry between these individual athletes, this is what tennis needs.”
A year ago in San Francisco, Henman was asked to join as vice-captain for Team Europe but could not guide the team to victory. Lessons were learned quickly and when he got the call from captain Yannick Noah prior to this week, his mindset changed immediately.
“We had a great week in San Francisco but we came up short. When Yannick and I were messaging each other coming into this week, the first thing Yannick said to me when we arrived was ‘it’s great to be back, but we’ve got to win’. And that’s what it was all about. So, it’s been an amazing week.”
The composition of the team this year changed slightly with Holger Rune missing with injury, replaced with rising Spanish star Rafa Jodar, while Team World were forced to make three changes including a late replacement for Ben Shelton who withdrew a week before after his deep run at the US Open.
“The way that the team have come together, we had a very similar team to San Francisco, but to add Rafa at such a young age, the way he’s come through was absolutely incredible, and their performance on the court has spoken for itself.”
Henman – sipping on some bubbly throughout the press conference – spoke highly of his team fighting hard for each other and navigating the stressful periods. He has been credited with doing all the “tough work” and being the “main person” by the ever-humble Noah, as well as being courtside throughout Team Europe’s matches and regularly giving advice to players – including World Number two Alexander Zverev where he advised the German to mix up his rally ball to avoid opponents becoming familiar with the pace and building rhythm.
“It’s great to sit up here and drink some Champagne and have a small trophy in front of us and a very big one back in the locker room. There’s a lot of other events that don’t necessarily work. But I think to be a part of the Laver Cup for the last two years has been an absolute privilege. To have these teammates and friends going forward is very, very special.” Henman concluded.
