The Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal effect: 100,000 people attend Laver Cup
The 2019 Laver Cup in Geneva was a success. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had confirmed their appearance since last year in December which helped in selling all tickets in February in just over two hours. 100,000 people attended the event over the week. Not only during the three-day event from Friday to Sunday, but also on Thursday when the practice sessions were open to the crowd and the tickets were costing only $20.
Team World's vice-captain Patrick McEnroe praised the Laver Cup and then criticized other tournaments: “To me, we’re struggling with the smaller events in tennis in general, not just in America", he said. "I turn on the TV all the time for a 250 or 500, and sometimes there are 10 people in the stands,” he added, referring to low-level ATP Tour tournaments. “I think events like Laver Cup are a way to energize people to get interested in tennis. The players love it. The fans love it. As long as the players can make money and have ranking points, which are going to be part of the ATP Cup, it’s a no-brainer.”
John Isner flew from the United States to Europe just to play the Laver Cup before having a long trip to Chengdu, China. He said: “You can clearly see it’s not an exhibition. We take this seriously. We want to win that thing.”
The 2020 Laver Cup will take place in Boston. Federer already said he will be there, we will see if Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play, too.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2lQzTk3
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