"I want to win" - Yannick Noah on his motivations after being named Team Europe captain for the 2025 Laver Cup
ATP
The 2025 edition of the Laver Cup will feature new captains, as Team Europe will see retired French star Yannick Noah replace former captain Bjorn Borg, with retired British tennis star Tim Henman assuming the role of vice-captain for the event.
Founded by Roger Federer in 2017, the Laver Cup pits the best players in the world against each other based on nationality. Team Europe consists of the best players in Europe taking on players from the rest of the world, who will compete under the Team World logo.
Noah eager to kick off captaincy with victory
The 1983 French Open champion made an appearance during TNT'S broadcast of the ongoing Parisian Grand Slam. Joined by vice-captain Henman, Noah revealed his aspirations as captain of Team Europe.
"I was by the beach in Cameroon, and then all of a sudden, I got a text saying, ‘Yannick, we’ve been thinking about you for the Laver Cup.’" said Noah. "I said, you want me to be a ball boy? I was so surprised. It was so unexpected. Then I got a call saying, ‘We talked with Roger. It’d be nice if you were captain.’ I said, ‘Serious? Why me from all these guys?’.
"I said I’d be honored, and that’s how it started. I was so honored to be picked up. We then spoke about having someone - I’m the captain - but the real captain is [Tim], because he’s the one that really knows tennis. I’m there for the atmosphere. I’m really happy to share this experience with him.
"Being captain of Europe is a big deal. I was by the beach, and now it’s kicked in. It’s serious. I went to Berlin last year to meet the guys and see how it works, feel the inside of the Laver Cup. I’m really excited. I want to win. Let's do it."
"I said I’d be honored, and that’s how it started. I was so honored to be picked up. We then spoke about having someone - I’m the captain - but the real captain is [Tim], because he’s the one that really knows tennis. I’m there for the atmosphere. I’m really happy to share this experience with him.
"Being captain of Europe is a big deal. I was by the beach, and now it’s kicked in. It’s serious. I went to Berlin last year to meet the guys and see how it works, feel the inside of the Laver Cup. I’m really excited. I want to win. Let's do it."
Furthermore, Noah praised Borg, highlighting how much work his predecessor had put into the role as Team Captain.
"He’s been captain for years," Noah said. "He gave me some good advice on how to approach the whole thing. Bjorn is a good friend of mine. I’m sorry, I didn’t take your spot, you gave it to me. We had a nice moment with the players where I just got to get to know them as kids. I realized they were so young, or I’m old. It was very important to go to Berlin and get to know them."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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