Coming into this yr’s U.S. Open, Ben Shelton felt that he had one thing to show. But it didn’t have something to do with the ultimate main championship of the yr, the place he reached the semifinals earlier than falling to the eventual winner, Novak Djokovic.
Instead, Shelton thought he needed to justify his inclusion on the six-man Team World within the Laver Cup, an elite competitors that begins Friday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“When the announcement first came out, I saw all these comments on Instagram, like, ‘Why did you take him? Why? Why this guy? There’s so many higher-ranked players,’” stated Shelton, who entered the U.S. Open at No. 47 on the planet however is now No. 19 due to his semifinal end in New York. “I wanted to show people that maybe I deserved to be on the team.”
The Laver Cup started in Prague in 2017 and trades continents annually between Europe and North America. Team Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg, who received 11 majors, options Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Gaël Monfils, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Arthur Fils. John McEnroe, who received seven main singles titles, is captain of Team World. His gamers are Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Francisco Cerundolo.
Last yr’s occasion in London was noteworthy as a result of it featured Roger Federer’s last match earlier than retirement. His best rivals, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, all confirmed as much as honor him. His final match, a doubles loss together with his teammate Nadal to Tiafoe and Jack Sock, was a tearful tribute to the 20-time main champion.
This yr’s Laver Cup represents a generational shift within the sport. Federer has retired, and Nadal, 37, has not performed an ATP match for the reason that Australian Open in January due to accidents.
Murray, at age 36, is just not the participant he was when he captured the U.S. Open in 2012, Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, and have become world No. 1 in 2016. And Djokovic, who received his twenty fourth main on the U.S. Open lower than two weeks in the past and is the present No. 1, is specializing in successful one other main.
“The end of an era heralds the beginning of a new one,” stated Rod Laver — the participant for whom the competitors is called — who was a part of his personal era’s rivalries with Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe and Jan Kodes, amongst others. “Today’s leading younger players are jockeying for pole position, and we’ll get to see them competing in a team setting in Vancouver, which weaves the eras together.”
McEnroe, who had his personal spirited rivalries with Borg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl all through the Seventies and ’80s, lamented that the Laver Cup had not generated the identical enchantment among the many gamers because the Ryder Cup, the staff occasion in golf.
“The goal was to make it like golf’s Ryder Cup, where everyone was waiting until the last minute to see who was hottest, but everyone was available,” McEnroe stated. “It doesn’t seem to be the case now. It’s tougher to get everyone committed.”
Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champ and world No. 2, has declined to play, as has the U.S. Open runner-up and the world No. 3, Daniil Medvedev. But six of the following 11 ranked gamers are competing this yr, and three others, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, have performed prior to now.
This yr, Team Europe will play with out its highly effective core of Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Medvedev. Winners in every of the primary 4 years, the Europeans misplaced on the final day final yr when Team World’s Auger-Aliassime beat Djokovic and Tiafoe outlasted Tsitsipas.
Paul, who beat Alcaraz in a match in Canada this summer season however then misplaced to Shelton on the U.S. Open, stated he was keenly conscious of the void left by the Big Four.
“It’s definitely a big loss for tennis in general, not just Laver Cup,” he stated. “It obviously gives us a pretty good opportunity.”
Fritz, who final yr received his solely Laver Cup singles match, acknowledged the generational shift.
“I think times are definitely changing,” stated Fritz, who’s the top-ranked American at No. 8. “It’s going to be a really different Laver Cup this year with how Team Europe is made up.”
Tiafoe, who misplaced within the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Shelton, agreed.
“Yeah, it’s generational,” Tiafoe stated through the Open. “I think the fans are going to appreciate the new faces. Tennis is at a great place; the level is getting better and better.”
Before he first performed in 2021, Rublev was skeptical of the occasion, which awards no ATP rating factors.
“When I was watching on TV, I was thinking, the way they are so excited, it’s not real,” he stated. “But when you get there, you want to win. You get with the team, you start to feel the support, and you don’t want to let them down.”
Fritz can be conscious of the camaraderie of the staff competitors that’s so uncommon in tennis. Last yr, members of Team Europe watched a doubles observe session between Federer and Nadal and Murray and Djokovic. Both groups sat intently on the sidelines throughout every match, cheering and giving teaching recommendation.
In tennis, if you win, Fritz stated through the U.S. Open, “you don’t really have people to celebrate with and have fun with. Winning last year, I felt like that was one of the top moments of my tennis career because we were able to celebrate with a group of my close friends.”
Seismic actions in tennis are nothing new. After Laver and his rivals, and Borg-McEnroe-Connors-Lendl, got here Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. Each time an period ends, there are those that really feel that there can by no means be one as nice.
Then got here Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. And now Alcaraz has emerged to problem Djokovic, as produce other gifted younger gamers.
Shelton, who turns 21 subsequent month, is considered one of them. A former participant on the University of Florida, he helped the Gators to the 2021 N.C.A.A. staff championship. He then received the N.C.A.A. singles title the following yr earlier than leaving college and turning professional final yr.
At the Open this yr, Shelton turned the youngest American man to achieve the semifinals since Chang did in 1992. For Shelton, the Laver Cup has a particular attraction.
“I’m pretty pumped to be in the team atmosphere,” he stated on the U.S. Open. “First team competition I’ve been part of since I left college. I’m going to be just as amped and emotional in Vancouver as I was here.”
Source: www.nytimes.com