There is an adage that says there is no “I” in “team.” It implies that those who compete in group sports are expected to forsake their independence for the greater good.
In tennis, the “I” means individual, as in “individual sport,” which tennis surely is. There is only one singles winner at every tournament or, in the case of the recent U.S. Open, one man and one woman out of an original field of nearly 500 competitors in the qualifying and main draws.
But in many ways, tennis has also become a team sport. Team competitions, like this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin, take solo performers and thrust them together for a week, enabling them to become practice compatriots, doubles partners and, most important, cheerleaders.
“I think it’s special having the best players on the planet on the same team or competing against each other, especially when you don’t want to let each other down,” said Alexander Zverev in an interview on the eve of the U.S. Open. “That’s what makes Laver Cup unique and that’s why you see everybody compete so hard.”
Zverev is the lone German on Team Europe alongside Carlos Alcaraz from Spain, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who takes the place of Rafael Nadal who withdrew last week because he is still rehabilitating from injuries. Team World comprises the Americans Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, as well as the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alejandro Tabilo from Chile and Francisco Cerúndolo from Argentina. Kokkinakis and Cerúndolo are late replacements for two injured players, Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur. The captains, former rivals Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, are in their final year leading Team Europe and Team World.
For Fritz, playing the Laver Cup is a way to recharge following his run to the final of the U.S. Open, where he lost to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
“Coming from the highs of playing the U.S. Open at home with the crowd, and then also just being so mentally locked in these two weeks, it would be really tough to go play an individual tournament that’s not going to have the same, like, just energy,” Fritz said. “So it’s amazing that I’m going to get to go play a really fun event that I enjoy with all of my friends. Because it’s pretty impossible for me to not be fired up playing a match when I have all these guys on the bench kind of going crazy for me.”
This is the seventh year of the Laver Cup, founded in part by Roger Federer and named for the two-time Grand Slam holder Rod Laver. Team Europe won the first four iterations while Team World has captured the title the last two years. In 2022, Federer bid an emotional farewell to the sport after playing a final doubles match with Nadal.
Team competitions have, once again, become prolific and popular in tennis. Decades ago, the Davis Cup for men and Federation Cup and Wightman Cup for women attracted great attention for their often-boisterous home-and-away format.
But over the last several years, as the names and regulations have changed — the Federation Cup became the Fed Cup and now the Billie Jean King Cup, while the Davis Cup moved to a neutral group stage location and finals venue — interest among fans and players waned. The Wightman Cup, a competition between the best women from the United States and Britain that began in 1923, was dissolved in 1989.
Now, the pro season begins in December with the United Cup, a joint ATP and WTA mixed-gender competition that attracts top players while serving as a warm-up for the Australian Open. In 2023 the U.S. team, comprising Fritz, Tiafoe, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, defeated Italy for the title, while in 2024, Zverev and Angelique Kerber led Germany over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz from Poland.
The season then ends with the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup finals, both played in Spain. There are even junior versions of both, sponsored by the International Tennis Federation. Last weekend, the Davis Cup group stage matches were held at four venues worldwide, setting the top eight teams that will contest the finals in mid-November. Alcaraz and Tabilo represented their nations in Davis Cup matches and then planned to head to the Laver Cup
The camaraderie among team members at the Paris Olympics went a long way toward reinforcing bonds forged among countrymen and women in team competitions. Danielle Collins gave her teammates personalized tote bags and sunglasses, while Desirae Krawczyk gave out matching necklaces in the shape of the Olympic rings. Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro wore the necklaces throughout the U.S. Open.
“Tennis is such an individual sport, so when we all come together as a team, I think everyone thoroughly enjoys those weeks,” said Kathy Rinaldi, the two-time U.S. Olympic captain, former Billie Jean King Cup captain and head of women’s tennis for the U.S.T.A. “We create a bond and some special moments that will last a lifetime.”
For some, playing college tennis helped them adjust to the individuality of the pro tour. Shelton, who won an N.C.A.A. championship while at the University of Florida, has often described competing in front of raucous crowds at major tournaments as akin to playing against the University of Georgia.
Collins and Navarro won N.C.A.A. singles championships at the University of Virginia. They credit their pro success to the lessons learned while training with and competing alongside their college teammates.
Navarro left school in 2022, joined the WTA Tour and in April was chosen to play a Billie Jean King Cup qualifying match in Orlando. After her teammates tasked her with the long-held tradition of performing a “rookie rap,” she thrilled dignitaries at a dinner with the performance, earning her the nickname “Eminem-Varro.”
And after Andy Murray and Jack Draper of Britain defeated France in the Davis Cup last year, a video of Draper celebrating and singing in the car with Murray, almost 15 years his senior, went viral.
The term “team” has also become universal in the sport. When former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty won Wimbledon in 2021 and the Australian Open in 2022, she thanked her “team,” which consisted of her coach and supporters who helped her along the way. That was in contrast to the 22-time major winner Steffi Graf who traveled the world in the 1980s and ’90s with few people other than her father, Peter, and one of two longtime coaches, Pavel Slozil and Heinz Gunthardt.
Now, nearly every player, including the U.S. Open champions Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, are trailed by a support system they call their “team.” There is a coach (in Sinner’s case, two); there are physios, or people directly responsible for looking after player’s bodies; there are trainers, hitting partners, agents, sports psychologists and even hired hands directly responsible for updating social media content.
During post-match acceptance speeches it can take a player five minutes just to congratulate an opponent’s team or thank his or her own.
For true team competitions like at the Laver Cup, the chance to practice with, learn from and goof around with the players they compete against all year is a genuine attraction. Two years ago, in London, Tsitsipas became so enthralled while watching a practice session involving Federer and Nadal that he climbed into the courtside umpire’s chair to get a better view.
For Tiafoe, it’s all about the fun.
“I love playing team events,” said Tiafoe, who has played the Laver Cup four times, clinching the title for Team World in each of the last two years. “Obviously it’s an individual sport, but I think team events bring a good vibe. I think it shows a lot of player personalities and stuff, getting people out of their shells a little bit. I think it’s really good for the sport.”
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