"The players are only participating because the cheque is huge": Benneteau blasts Laver Cup's lack of ‘sporting criteria’

Former top-25 player Julien Benneteau criticized the Laver Cup, led by Roger Federer, for lacking ‘sporting criteria’ in the selection of players. The tournament took place over the weekend of September 20-22, with Team Europe emerging as champions for the 5th time, edging out Team World in a close 13-11 series.

Team Europe was led by three top-5 players: Alexander Zverev (No. 2), Carlos Alcaraz (No. 3), and Daniil Medvedev (No. 5). On the other hand, the top-ranked players for Team World were Americans Taylor Fritz (No. 7), Frances Tiafoe (No. 15), and Ben Shelton (No. 17).

Although Europe was the favourite, after the first day ended in a tie, the second day was dominated by Team World, who won three out of the four matches and went into Sunday leading the series. However, Alcaraz spearheaded Europe’s comeback, with the team winning three out of the final four matches to secure the title once again.

Current captain of the French Billie Jean King Cup team, Julien Benneteau, expressed his thoughts on the podcast Grandes Gueules du Sport, stating that the players are only motivated by money, and that the tournament is far from being like the Ryder Cup in golf: “There is no emotion,” he said.

“When you win even an ATP 250, there is sporting value. The Laver Cup has no sporting value because the selection is done at the whim of Federer and [Tony] Godsick, there is no sporting criteria.”

“The Ryder Cup has six players who qualify based on their results and six others chosen by their captain. But these are sporting decisions, not based on who you are represented by on the ATP circuit or which agency manages you."

The former men’s doubles Olympic bronze medallist Benneteau also criticized the selection of players for the Laver Cup. “[Alejandro] Tabilo in the world selection, is he the best? There is no sporting criteria,” he commented on the Chilean world No. 22. Currently, there are seven non-European players ranked higher than Tabilo (three of them participated in the Laver Cup) and a total of 13 non-European players in the top 30.

“[Frances] Tiafoe and [Taylor] Fritz are not going to play the Davis Cup in China because there’s no money, but they are going to play the Laver Cup because they’re getting a huge cheque,” he added about the two Americans. “The players are only participating because the cheque is huge.”

Team Europe players received $250,000 each for winning the title, while Team World players received $125,000 each for their participation in the tournament. Next year, the event will be held in San Francisco, marking a shift as John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg will no longer serve as captains. They will be replaced by Andre Agassi for Team World and Yannick Noah for Team Europe.