"It's their favorite event, even more than the Grand Slams": Holger Rune makes bold Laver Cup claim as all star exhibition returns
ATP
Holger Rune has made a bold claim that players prefer playing the Laver Cup than actual Grand Slams in what has been an interesting news week or so for the Dane.
Rune who plays Laver Cup started the last week being called out by Anna Kalinskaya for sending her 10 messages as he asked for a date something he later refuted as perhaps a barrier in culture and that if he really wanted to ask her out, he would just do it.
Then he went on to play Davis Cup and refused a handshake with the umpire. This also went onto rile a certain David Ferrer who said: "He cursed the fans, and then he threw two balls, and you didn't even call a penalty" at the time. Denmark thought they had Spain who came back to produce a dramatic comeback win to make the Davis Cup Finals so it didn't really work in Denmark's favour.
But in a time when main tour tennis is few and far between, it is exhibitions now this week with the Laver Cup. Rune will be the first player from his country to take part in the tournament which was co-founded by Roger Federer. It was first launched in 2017 and was named after Rod Laver.
The three-day tournament sees players from Europe take on Team World in a team format inspired by golf's Ryder Cup. it also features this year Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi as captains with McEnroe and Borg being the initial leaders for the first editions. Albeit Rune wil hope to be on the winning team again as Europe have won five out of the past seven editions.
In addition, the event has mainly quality on the Europe side with Rune and Carlos Alcaraz playing. Team World have Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur but they have otherwise been hit by withdrawals with Tiafoe, Shelton among others out with injury.
They did not play this past week either as USA slumped out of the Davis Cup and so it has not been the best as of late. Back to the Laver Cup and the event became an officially sanctioned ATP event in 201. They renewed the deal last year and have a spot on the calendar.
While it is not ranked, they are entitled to a participation fee and Rune has said it is better than Grand Slams in some cases for some players.
“[I’ve] talked to many of the players and they say it’s one of the most fun events to play in, a great event,” said Rune to the Laver Cup website. [For] many of them, it’s their favorite event — even more than the Grand Slams."
“I have high expectations, but most of all I’m just going to really enjoy it. It’s not that often we get to play as a team, so I think that’s super cool. I think I [will] really thrive in this environment. I can’t wait to play. My plan [is] to bring a lot of energy and intensity.”
While he riled up a Spain free of Carlos Alcaraz last week, he wants to team with the Spaniard in doubles. Something they have not done since their junior days, both came up together among the ranks and he hopes to team again with him to rekindle that.
“Has to be Carlos (Alcaraz),” he said.“That could be pretty iconic to relive that moment again. Those [were] good memories and obviously we played each other many times, where we’re on the opposite side of the net, so now we can finally try to be on the same side, which is going to be pretty cool,”
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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