“I think we did have a good team spirit for years. but it wasn't getting us a whole lot": McEnroe about Laver Cup Past

Team World captain and former world number one John McEnroe believes that things would’ve been different if Team Europe had had the services of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

The 20-year-old is one of the most highly-rated young players currently playing in the circuit.

The current world number two became the talk of the town after beating the current world number one Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon 2023 in a five-set thriller with a score of 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4.

McEnroe, who was the captain of Team World in the Laver Cup 2023, was quoted in a recent report where he admitted that not having someone like Alcaraz in the opposition team was an advantage.

“Obviously in a competition it's about winning,” he said. “I think we did have a good team spirit for years. It wasn't getting us a whole lot. We were close a couple times, but it's frustrating. You know, it's a little bit of that David versus Goliath.

“We came here and we sort of looked at what happened, a couple guys pulled out and we're, like, Wait a minute, not only could we but we should in our minds do it and come out.

“We've got to take advantage of this, and so I think these guys are getting it, because I think in a couple of years, I mean, obviously next year it's going to be a different story. We'll be back in Europe. A couple of guys, you know, Carlos Alcaraz, if he plays, it will be obviously a different story right off the bat. So we've got to take advantage of this opportunity and get some momentum.”

Team World, who lost four editions of the Laver Cup, ended up winning the competition for the second time in a row with a thumping score of 13-2.