Team Europe's Captain Bjorn Borg, left, chats with Team World's captain John McEnroe, on the second day of the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 in London, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. Members of Team Europe say they're looking for redemption this week in Vancouver after losing the tournament for the first time last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Kin Cheung
VANCOUVER – Members of Team Europe at the Laver Cup say they’re looking for redemption after losing the tournament for the first time last year.
Team Europe has won four of five iterations of the competition, losing last year in London which also marked Swiss icon Roger Federer’s last competitive game.
Captain Bjorn Borg says he and his players hate losing, and last year’s failure has stuck with them.
The Swedish former tennis great says he and vice-captain Thomas Enqvist are coaching like-minded players who will push to retake the tournament crown.
The competition kicks off on Friday with Arthur Fils taking on American Ben Shelton.
It will be Fils’ first appearance at a Laver Cup, and the Frenchman was a late addition to replace world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece who pulled out due to injury.
The 19-year-old Fils, who is ranked 44th in the world, says he hopes his Laver Cup debut goes better than his Davis Cup debut, which ended in a loss to Britain’s Dan Evans 3-6 6-3 6-4.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2023.
