- Federer, Nadal Lead Team Europe vs. Team World with Four Americans, Kyrgios and Shapovalov
- Three Singles, One Doubles Match per Day
- Highlight Show Thursday on ESPNEWS
- TV, Digital Distribution in Latin America, Australia and New Zealand
ESPN3 has added the inaugural Laver Cup – a Team Europe vs. Team World format of 12 matches featuring many of the top male tennis players in the world – which will be held Friday, Sept. 22 – Sunday, Sept. 24 at the O2 Arena in Prague (indoor hard court). The 24 hours of action (eight hours per day) will be streamed live on the ESPN app, beginning at 7 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, 6 a.m. on Sunday.
In addition, ESPNEWS will air a one-hour highlights show Thursday, Sept. 28, at 11 p.m. ET. (reaired Friday, Sept. 29, at 11:30 p.m.). In addition, the show will be available on demand for one month on ESPN VOD on the ESPN app.
As previously announced, ESPN International has live television and digital distribution exclusivity for the Laver Cup in Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the ESPN Australia network in that country and New Zealand.
Laver Cup: Star-Studded Rosters and Unique Rules
Each team’s roster is comprised of six players, ranging from all-time greats to some of the game’s top young players:
- Team Europe is captained by Bjorn Borg and is led by all-time greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who may play doubles together in addition to singles, plus Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych.
- The Team World roster, with captain John McEnroe, includes four Americans – Sam Querrey, John Isner, Jack Sock and 19-year old Frances Tiafoe who forced Federer into a five-set match at the US Open (a late replacement for Juan Martin del Potro) – plus Nick Kyrgios of Australia and 18-year old Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
Each day of the event, three singles and one doubles match will be played. Each match will be best-of-three sets, with a 10-point tie break serving as the third set. The event is named after the legendary Rod Laver and is to be held annually (except Olympic years). The 2018 event is expected to be held in the United States.
The Laver Cup competition has unique rules and scoring system:
- Every player will play either one or two singles matches throughout the tournament, and at least four of six members of each team will play doubles.
- Matches are worth more as the event transpires. A win on Friday gets the winning team one point, but a Saturday win is worth two points and a Sunday victory is worth three. If both teams are tied at 12 points apiece after all matches conclude, a tiebreaker doubles match—played as a regular set with ad scoring and a tiebreak—will decide the winner on Sunday.
Friday’s Matches
- Team Europe — Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Team World – Frances Tiafoe (USA)
- Team Europe – Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs. Team World – John Isner (USA)
- Team Europe – Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. Team World – Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
- Team Europe – Tomas Berdych (CZE) / Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Team World – Nick Krygios (AUS) / Jack Sock (USA)
| Date | Time (ET) | Event | Network(s) | |
| Fri Sept 22 | 7 a.m. | Laver Cup | LIVE | ESPN3 |
| 1 p.m. | Laver Cup | LIVE | ESPN3 | |
| Sat Sept 23 | 7 a.m. | Laver Cup | LIVE | ESPN3 |
| 1 p.m. | Laver Cup | LIVE | ESPN3 | |
| Sun Sept 24 | 6 a.m. | Laver Cup | LIVE | ESPN3 |
| Thur Sept 28 | 11 p.m. | Laver Cup Highlights | Taped | ESPNEWS |
| Fri Sept 29 | 11:30 p.m. | Laver Cup Highlights | Taped | ESPNEWS |
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