Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
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Re: Laver Cup 2017 Prague
Cromar wrote:Here is the FULL match (2:50), with post-match team celebration, interviews, the Trophy ceremony and... off-court champagne!
From: Tennis Live Streaming
Thank you very, very much Cromar for posting this match and celebration! I couldn't have seen it, our TV didn't broadcast it! Only the first day they broadcasted! So, thank you so much, I'm grateful!
Mimi
milesa- Posts : 404
Join date : 2017-03-08
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/09/laver-cup-what-we-learned-federer-nadal-mcenroe-kyrgios-sock-ryder-cup/69625/
Steerpike60- Posts : 2993
Join date : 2017-01-24
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
What a pleasure to attend the Laver Cup in the beautiful O2 Arena.
The commitment from the players was incredible and they brought us high level tennis in every match.
It was also pure entertainment to watch the reactions from the players on the bench.
Team World was so creative but I guess it's safe to say that #1 cheerleader of the weekend was Rafa...
It was special to witness Fedal teaming up for doubles.
It felt weird to cheer for Rafa in his singles though but in a team event every point is important
I was very nervous before Roger's match vs Kyrgios as we all know how dangerous Nick is.
It was another of Roger's fun matches which he loves so much but which ages us 100 years
Team Europe animating the crowd then to make even more noise surely contributed to Roger doing his magical turnaround in the match tiebreak
How fitting that Roger won the deciding point for his team and the emotions which we saw afterwards speak also volume about this event
So happy to see Team Europe winning but a big applause also to Team World for what they brought to the Laver Cup.
Tennis is really the winner of this weekend
LaRubia- Posts : 97
Join date : 2017-02-07
Age : 48
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
Doris dear, what a beautiful report, moving report. Thank you so much!
It was also very interesting to try to "search" for you, the fans who went there, but also the families, sitting all in the middle of the crowd. I loved it also.
cromar, wow for the google translator. Creative, the "person" there.
corinne, if you still can read it, can you please give me a safe link to the yt downloader? OFF TOPIC
Márcia- Posts : 4980
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Location : Rio de Janeiro
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
Aprilp20n- Posts : 839
Join date : 2017-01-26
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
We can always count on Roger, the genius, to surprise us, dazzle us and rock the tennis world. He introduced us, me at least, to Prague, what a dramatic backdrop behind the tennis scene. He has so much pull and Sponsers power and fan love that enable him to make things happen. What a great man, praising Laver and downplaying his being the brain behind this thing.
I can't help but think of 2008, Roger's Mono year, when he was on a losing streak all year, and lost in Olympic singles and we were in pain and despair, and boom, out of the blue he came up with Team Fedrinka in Olympic doubles and won it, and sealed the year winning the US Open and in a blink he was sitting at the top of the tennis world again and what a happy ending to the year that was. Right now, I forgot all about the 2017 USO after this glorious weekend in Prague
Thank you "Cromar" for the translation, for the match and all the goodies.
"LaRubia" You were at the event, lucky you. What a thrill, thank you for posting about it.
Goodnight everyone.
federerworshipper- Posts : 1937
Join date : 2017-04-30
Location : NJ
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
This was indeed a glorious weekend for all involved, as well as for tennis and the fans. I have been amazed at the positive feedback from practically everyone in the tennis world, not forgetting the huge buzz on social media.
What a great success this was for a first try... and a huge relief for Roger, I am sure! The planning of this event must have weighted quite heavily on his shoulder, seeing how involved he was in its preparation, both physically and emotionally, and how badly he wanted it to succeed. And to be accorded the honor to clinch the winning points for Team Europe was just the perfect ending, for Roger and for us!
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Location : Montreal, Canada
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
You used the key word "peRFect ending" Let's hope 2017 will end perfectly on a high for Roger and fans.
federerworshipper- Posts : 1937
Join date : 2017-04-30
Location : NJ
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
He must have been still on a high when he did those tweets!
An unforgettable week with Team Europe at the first #LaverCup... pic.twitter.com/mswiUSwIFz
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 27, 2017
There were a lot of highs... pic.twitter.com/N4rBnSjpnO
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 27, 2017
:horror:
And some lows... pic.twitter.com/gy89afDXok
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 27, 2017
But we made it in the end! pic.twitter.com/qBb4aSL2NA
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 27, 2017
Already can't wait until next year, in Chicago 2018. pic.twitter.com/X5wNWumOw2
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 27, 2017
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
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Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
Márc19f wrote:^^^
Doris dear, what a beautiful report, moving report. Thank you so much!
It was also very interesting to try to "search" for you, the fans who went there, but also the families, sitting all in the middle of the crowd. I loved it also.
Marcia, it's my pleasure to share my thoughts about the event
Unfortunately we were all spread a bit in the crowd but it was interesting then to hear the experience from the other fans.
LaRubia- Posts : 97
Join date : 2017-02-07
Age : 48
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
fednumber1 wrote:I have been extremely busy but at night I watch the Laver cup videos, commentary, tweets etc. I watched the Final 4 times. What a spectacular event. Three whole days of beautiful tennis in a gorgeous arena. And yes, I loved Team World they were adorable and the life of the party, but "LaRubia" I agree, Nadal wins the best cheerleader award, heck he almost tore his shorts .
But I am worried about Roger's back, Nadal expected Roger to carry him like he is a toddler I can't believe this guy. But it did show how happy he was for Roger and for the Team. He was really deep into it and that's nice.
We can always count on Roger, the genius, to surprise us, dazzle us and rock the tennis world. He introduced us, me at least, to Prague, what a dramatic backdrop behind the tennis scene. He has so much pull and Sponsers power and fan love that enable him to make things happen. What a great man, praising Laver and downplaying his being the brain behind this thing.
I can't help but think of 2008, Roger's Mono year, when he was on a losing streak all year, and lost in Olympic singles and we were in pain and despair, and boom, out of the blue he came up with Team Fedrinka in Olympic doubles and won it, and sealed the year winning the US Open and in a blink he was sitting at the top of the tennis world again and what a happy ending to the year that was. Right now, I forgot all about the 2017 USO after this glorious weekend in Prague
Thank you "Cromar" for the translation, for the match and all the goodies.
"LaRubia" You were at the event, lucky you. What a thrill, thank you for posting about it.
Goodnight everyone.
This event meant the world to Roger which was obvious from his reaction after the won the deciding point but also during his speech. He got quite emotional there.
Hopefully these days in Prague will give him a good boost for the rest of the season so that he can finish this extremely wondeRFul year on a high note.
It's great to read that you enjoyed the event as so many other people did as well
LaRubia- Posts : 97
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Age : 48
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
Down the Line column: Was the inaugural Laver Cup a success?
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played a historic doubles, more than 83,000 fans showed up, and videos went viral worldwide. Reem Abulleil tells us if the inaugural Laver Cup was a success.
by Reem Abulleil - Sport 360
26th September 2017
Trifecta: Borg, Federer and Nadal.
It’s fair to say that no one expected the inaugural Laver Cup to be this successful, not even Roger Federer himself – the man behind the new team event that took Prague by storm last weekend.
There was so much scepticism surrounding the Laver Cup prior to its first edition. People wondered if the players would be invested in it, if the competition would be serious, if the fans would show up and if the idea of Team World v Team Europe would foster an actual rivalry.
Federer himself admitted he was concerned about how team members would get along and whether the team spirit would be there from the start.
The ecstatic reaction of Team Europe when Federer sealed a 15-9 victory for them, and the tears of Nick Kyrgios when he lost that match tiebreak to the Swiss said it all.
With over 83,000 fans showing up over three days, and five sold-out sessions at the impressive O2 Arena, the Laver Cup took everyone by surprise and made a massive statement in its first year.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the action in Prague.
THE PLAYERS HAVE BOUGHT INTO IT
Speaking to Team World captain John McEnroe after the event was over, it was undeniable how emotional the American was feeling.
“I’ve been around a lot of things, a lot of incredible Davis Cup scenarios, it’s hard to feel like you could top this,” said McEnroe, who at one point during the last match between Kyrgios and Federer, just stood up and started raising his arms wildly at the crowd, in an effort to get them behind the team.
Nadal looked like a nervous wreck when Federer was losing to Kyrgios, who cried after he suffered a narrow defeat that ended his team’s comeback.
“You didn’t let us down,” Denis Shapovalov told Kyrgios during the post-match press conference.
The matches were very competitive, and John Isner played the tennis of his life when he defeated Nadal on Sunday to cut Team Europe’s lead to just three points.
And almost all of them said they’d love to be involved next year, assuming they qualify by ranking.
“We even kind of joked before the matches started that, you know, everyone wants to be in the top-six for next year’s event. It’s extra motivation in the rankings,” said Sam Querrey.
“Everything about the event has been amazing. You can’t really think of one thing to change or make better. It’s just been first class with every aspect of the event.”
Zverev introduces Federer to Laver Cup gala stage
THE FORMAT WORKS
With matches played over best-of-three, and the third-set being a 10-point tiebreaker, organisers made sure the clashes did not drag on forever.
The fact that matches on day one were worth one point, the ones on day two were worth two points and on day three were triple points meant that the tournament got progressively more competitive and ensured there were no dead rubbers on Sunday.
Having teams alternate the right to answer with their own line-up based on the other team captain’s picks for the day was also a cool touch.
PRAGUE WAS AN EXCELLENT FIRST CHOICE
Choosing a city that loves sport but one that does not host any ATP tournaments was a strategic move that paid dividends.
Still cant get over how packed the O2 Arena has been all day. You've done well, Prague! pic.twitter.com/NUWhWp1JBb
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) September 22, 2017
The O2 Arena was at full capacity every session and it’s hard to imagine a better start for the Laver Cup. Chicago will play host next year – another sports-mad location that has no local professional tournaments.
THE CROWD WAS EVEN
One thing the tournament probably missed is a partisan crowd. With 60 per cent of the tickets sold to people from outside the Czech Republic, it was a very mixed audience in Prague last weekend, and while they were loud and tennis-savvy, it didn’t feel like Team Europe had the home court advantage. That is something that will probably take some time to build as the event gains more traction and people get used to the idea of a ‘Team Europe’ and a ‘Team World’.
GO MORE BEHIND-THE-SCENES
The chemistry between the players while watching their team-mates courtside, and the behind-the-scenes footage revealed on social media were arguably the most compelling parts of the Laver Cup, and they drew in the casual fans as much as the die-hard ones.
— ReemAbulleil(@ReemAbulleil) September 23, 2017
DAVIS CUP NEEDED THIS WAKE-UP CALL
While I refuse to equate Davis Cup to Laver Cup, the latter has certainly given us a glimpse of what the former is currently lacking – and that is star power. The biggest names in the sport continue to skip Davis Cup ties, which means the inter-nation competition keeps losing lustre and relevance.
Perhaps it’s time to ditch the whole four-times-a-year format and think about having Davis Cup staged over one week each year – or even better, every two years? After all, it’s easier to commit to something when it’s once a year, rather than four.
#NCR199 on Laver Cup! What made it so successful so fast, and what can Davis Cup learn from it? With @reemabulleil: https://t.co/LYyQxyP7Hs
— NCR Tennis Podcast (@NCR_Tennis) September 27, 2017
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
In-depth interview with Tony Godsick, President and CEO of Team 8, the owner of the Laver Cup:
Roger Federer's agent Tony Godsick: Laver Cup is not going to kill Davis Cup
In an exclusive chat with Roger Federer's agent and business partner, Tony Godsick, we delve deeper into their signature event, the recently-concluded Laver Cup.
by Reem Abulleil - Sport 360
2nd October 2017
The inaugural Laver Cup rocked Prague last week, much to the surprise of its many sceptics.
The Team World v Team Europe event, modelled after golf’s Ryder Cup, was organised by Roger Federer and his management company Team8, in partnership with Tennis Australia, the USTA and Brazilian-Swiss investor, Jorge Paulo Lemann.
Captained by Bjorn Borg, Team Europe, that included Federer, Rafa Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych, defeated the John McEnroe-led Team World.
The new annual event (except for Olympic years) captured the imagination of tennis fans worldwide, as they got to witness Federer and Nadal as team-mates, and even doubles partners, over three special days in the Czech capital.
And while Laver Cup was deemed a huge success in its first installment, questions remain over its sustainability and future.
We sat down with Federer’s agent and Team8 business partner, Tony Godsick, to delve deeper into the thought behind the tournament, its potential, and biggest challenges.
How do you feel about how the first edition of Laver Cup went? Did it meet your expectations?
It met them and exceeded them all in the same. We knew we were going to create something very special but we had no idea that in year one we would be able to have such a successful event. The fans in Prague were amazing. The players seem to really enjoy themselves. The competition has been very close – the score might not reflect it but with the way we’ve set up the scoring system for the Laver Cup, there’s a chance that something exciting can happen on day three.
Rod Laver did so much for the sport of tennis but a long time ago. And some of this next generation of players are able to learn through this what he really did. Can you imagine today, telling Roger Federer to take four and a half years off of playing Grand Slams just to usher in the professional game? He’d look at me like ‘are you crazy?’
So to be able to celebrate tennis, the past, the current, the future, it’s been incredible. The reception we got here in Prague is great, the electricity, the tennis, how hard the players have tried. We’re all, from an organisational standpoint, really excited.
A fruitful partnership: Federer and Godsick.
The event was sold out from start to finish, without an empty seat at the O2 Arena all five sessions. How did you manage to promote it so well?
The players are always important and we have the best players in the world here which is fantastic. Today’s modern game, the players have done a great job promoting it, working with Tennis Australia and the USTA, partners in our organisation, really helped too, because they’ve been helping to push the word and spread the gospel of the Laver Cup around the world.
Tennis fans know when the events are happening, the good events, and they find them. Over 40 per cent of the tickets were bought by people in the Czech Republic and the rest were bought by people from 43 other countries, so credit cards from 43 other countries. The tennis fan is global and they’re willing to travel for great tennis and what we were able to offer them is three days of exceptional tennis with the best players and I think we were very fortunate to have such an incredible first year.
With the different format, and the shortened matches, is there a specific demographic you’re hoping to reach?
Like everybody else, we want the millenials, we do. We want to attract the next generation of tennis fans. I think with this shortened format, two out of three sets is great, but when you play the third set as a 10-point breaker like they do on the ATP tour (in doubles), you know you’re not going to sit there for five or six hours and watch a match.
We did a lot of stuff from a digital content standpoint – capturing the players behind-the-scenes, in the locker room, in the team room, interacting, which we were able to push out on social media. So hopefully we’ll be able to attract a different demographic but we want the traditional demographic too. People talk about the past, we want the traditional tennis demographic because those are the people that are going to actually help usher in the next generation of tennis fans.
So hopefully with different aspects and different ideas we’ll be able to touch all the different demographics. We’ll only know after but we’re looking at different things to make sure we get just that.
Simply put, do you believe tennis is a profitable business in this day and age?
Sure. Absolutely. If it’s done right. In this standpoint, we’re building an event. We’re not building something for one year, we’re building something for 100 years. So you have to invest a lot of money to create your brand, create the product, and make sure the people have a great time. But yeah, tennis is profitable, the Slams are profitable, the 1000s are profitable… I mean I do think the top four players that have dominated the sport, it’s been amazing, and me being the manager of one of them, it’s amazing.
But I also think the fact that four players have dominated tennis for over 10 years hasn’t been the most successful thing for all of tennis because probably there are some tournaments that hear from their sponsors saying ‘hey, do you have Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray?’ and you say ‘no’, they say ‘okay then why would we want to sponsor the event?’ So I think, and you see it now, the next generation is coming. Once there’s parity in the game a little bit more, I think the sport will be healthy.
There’s always the next generation, Roger Federer always says ‘there’ll be another No. 1, there’ll be someone always holding a trophy’. Back when it was Borg and McEnroe and Connors, and then you have Edberg, Becker, then you have Sampras, Agassi, and then you have Federer, Nadal… it’s going to keep coming because tennis creates superstars. Tennis is profitable if done the right way and if you create a product that people like from a sponsorship standpoint, from a TV standpoint, and from a revenue standpoint, it can be profitable.
We’re not in this to make a profit now, we’re in this to build something, for the legacy, to give back to the sport of tennis and hopefully create something with roots that are deep as the Ryder Cup, and that doesn’t happen overnight.
So you believe that this event can thrive even in the absence of Federer and Nadal when they retire down the road?
100 per cent. It’s great that they’re playing and we hope they play for years but the nice thing about this event too is it brings people back. Look at Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Bjorn, I don’t think will ever be a celebrity coach like one of these guys that comes back but we gave him a platform here to come back and coach for a weekend.
So to have Borg and McEnroe today here and honour Rod Laver… I hope one day Roger will be captain of the team, I hope Rafa will be captain of the team, but the next generation stars are coming. Look at Sascha Zverev, this kid is going to be a mega-star. Look at Nick Kyrgios, he’s already a star. These Americans, there’s Frances Tiafoe, there’s a lot of them. And there are a lot of players that actually aren’t here today and we hope that by seeing the product that they’ll want to be here next year and the years to come. You don’t need Federer, Nadal forever, but we hope we have them forever.
There’s been lots of reports about the ITF and the ATP being not too pleased with the emergence of Laver Cup…
Everyone always gets upset in tennis when things happen. I think we are not trying to compete with anybody. People say ‘oh you’re doing this to change Davis Cup’. No we’re not. We are completely different.
When you put it down on paper, the ITF and the Davis Cup, this country versus country, happens four times a year, you don’t know where it’s going to be, the surface changes, it’s got a lot of history, and that’s sort of the Davis Cup.
We are region versus region, we happen once a year, we take the Olympic year off, we don’t play three-out-of-five sets, we’re a completely different product.
Same thing for the ATP. The ATP is great, it’s the platform for men’s tennis, we’d like to work with them, we’ve had discussions with them for years. The ITF… everybody in tennis gets along, but everyone in tennis seems to compete. And I hope that our event can actually in the future be the event that the sport of tennis owns together. That everybody embraces. But you know, people are always quick to – before this event even happened, people say it’s going to kill the Davis Cup. No it’s not. I see it as maybe helping the Davis Cup because the players will see what a great atmosphere team competition can be.
- ALSO READ: McEnroe says ATP made a mistake for not embracing Laver Cup
I’ve been in tennis for 25 years and I know the politics of the game, there’s a lot of different organisations, but we’ve treated this event, in the sport of tennis, we’ve put on white gloves and we’ve made sure we went to a city that doesn’t have an ATP event. Next year, the next city, there’s not an ATP event there. So we’re trying to go to places that want to see the sport of tennis but in no way, shape or form do I think that we’re hurting the game.
Now if we can innovate, and people will take some of the elements that we did and incorporate it, that’s a sign of flattery. But I’ll be honest with you too, we took some ideas from other things like the Davis Cup and we’ve tried to enhance them and use them too.
So I believe that tennis needs to be a family so all this discussion of the politics and people being upset, I look at it as an opportunity to make the sport grow together. Because ultimately, look at the ITF, what’s their goal? To grow the sport of tennis around the world. And I think you could ask every single fan in the stadium ‘did we do that?’ and they would say yes.
Why is the event staged now, coinciding with ATP tournaments, rather than during the offseason?
Obviously at the end of the season, it’s tough. I’ve managed top players my whole career and I know that once the season’s over, the season’s over. The World Tour Finals, especially on the ATP tour, that’s the granddaddy of ATP tennis. Managing Roger Federer, knowing what he does afterwards, these guys don’t want to get together and play another event. So we decided ‘where could we go, that would make the least amount of damage, that in the long run, 25, 30 years from now, what would be better for the sport of tennis?
And we worked with a lot of people who are in the politics and the leadership of the game and we found this time. So we hope people like it, we’re excited about it, but once things happen at the end of the season we’d also be competing with Davis Cup, we don’t want to do that. We were sensitive, we didn’t want to go near their finals. That’s their granddaddy so that’s why we picked this date, two weeks after the US Open.
What would be the biggest challenge moving forward?
Continuing to innovate, getting the tennis family to love what we’re doing, everybody in the tennis family. We want to bring this around the world because as I said before this will help spread the gospel of the sport that we all make a living in. And so I think potentially one day if we go to places like South Africa or we go somewhere in China, getting the players to go all that way, but I think if we build the product, we make it accessible and easy and treat the players well, the sponsors, the broadcasters, people, like the Ryder Cup, will look at it as a staple of their calendar and we’re really excited about the future.
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Location : Montreal, Canada
Re: Laver Cup 2017, Prague - Sep 22-24, 2017
What great planning, and consideration of marketing and growth concerns and consideration for other tennis events went into this! Impressive.
On a somewhat different note, relating more to the ATP tour, but with implications also for this event, perhaps, I saw on a Canadian news channel that Milos Raonic thinks that the tournament should be reviewed, claiming that it makes too many demands on the players in terms of time, travelling, effort, and that it is not good for them.
Some changes have been made in the past few years. I believe. Perhaps those can be adjusted and refined. However, some of the issues are due to the power of the game--the huge hitting all the time that is the mainstay of many players, and the lack of the requisite physical male maturity paired with it, that gives rise to injuries. The relatively great height of some players can ammplify the bodily demands.
It will be up to the sport itself, of course, go make determinations, but I can't help but feel that Raonic is perhaps talking more about himself and similar players, and also, from some disappoingment on his part, although he is a top player.
At any rate, these are the thoughts that occurred to me reading his issues, but then, I merely have a layman's outlook in these matters.
I just saw this news recently, and hence my commentary.
HeartoftheMatter- Posts : 2301
Join date : 2017-08-17
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