The irony will be lost on no one. A Laver Cup that united Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray for the first and only time ended not with Federer disappearing into retirement clutching one last trophy, but in John McEnroe’s Team World finally claiming a first victory in five attempts.
A new world order is emerging, one in which youth makes no apology for upsetting the apple cart – and never mind how many grand slam trophies it may contain.
No one at the Laver Cup has embodied that spirit more vibrantly than Frances Tiafoe, the magnetic 24-year-old American who partnered his compatriot Jack Sock to victory over Federer and Nadal on Friday night.
Teed up beautifully by his team-mate Felix Auger-Aliassime, who earlier upset Djokovic in straight sets to put Team World on the cusp of victory, Tiafoe saved four match points en route to a dramatic 1-6, 7-6 (11), 10-8 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, sealing a momentous 13-8 win for his team.
If it was a disappointing outcome for Federer and company, the ebullient Tiafoe was not about to apologise – least of all for his role in derailing the Swiss legend’s retirement party.
“Absolutely not,” said Tiafoe. “I want to see him lit, but I’m not going to apologise to him. He’s got a lot to apologise [for] after the last 24 years, after beating everybody on the tour.
“No, I won’t apologise, but I will say thank you for having me in this amazing event [and] also say thank you for what he did for the game. He’s a class act. Happy to know him, happy to call him friend, happy to call him a colleague, and best wishes in his second act. But I will not apologise.”
McEnroe’s men began the afternoon trailing their European counterparts 8-4, but with each win worth three points on the final day, they acquired an unstoppable momentum once Auger-Aliassime had partnered Jack Sock to a 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 win over Murray and Matteo Berrettini in the opening match.
Tiafoe’s victory was all the more impressive for the manner in which he turned things around after a blistering start by Tsitsipas. The Greek world No 6 initially picked up from where he left off on the opening day, when he blitzed Diego Schwartzman for the loss of just three games. But Tiafoe, roared on by his team-mates, was the more courageous player down the stretch, punishing the frequently questionable shot selection of Tsitsipas – who seemed determined to draw the American forward with short sliced backhands rather than driving through the ball – as he fought like his life depended on it.
“There was a great team spirit, so we were battling from the beginning,” said McEnroe, who was dancing with joy by the end. “I think we felt that it is the big four, but obviously the circumstances are a little different than they could have been 10 years ago, five years ago. We knew we had a shot at it, but it was an uphill battle.”
Circumstances are indeed different. Federer, his race finally run, was reduced to the role of cheerleader-cum-super coach, dispensing pearls of wisdom at the changeovers (“I know you like to play fast, but not now,” he implored Tsitsipas during the critical second-set tiebreak) while occasionally looking as though he wanted to tear out his immaculately coiffured hair. Nadal curtailed his involvement after his old rival’s emotional sendoff on the the opening night, returning to his home in Mallorca, where his wife is expecting their first child. Murray, who has been competing with a metal hip for the past three years, struggled to hit the high notes on a slow, gritty hard court that was never likely to bring out the best in his game.
That left Djokovic to shoulder the hopes of Team Europe, a task that looked well within his capabilities after the heroics of Saturday, when he returned to the match court after an absence of more than two months to demolish Tiafoe 6-1, 6-3 before partnering Matteo Berrettini to a 7-5, 6-2 over Alex de Minaur and Sock. Yet even the Serb has his limits, and having not played since beating Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final, it was little wonder that he appeared hampered by a sore wrist against Auger-Aliassime, whose near-flawless performance would have presented a stern challenge at the best of times.
The first half of 2022 may have belonged to the old guard, with Nadal winning the Australian and French Opens, and Djokovic claiming a seventh Wimbledon title, but the past month has been about the rise of a new generation of challengers.
Carlos Alcaraz, 19, ushered in a fresh dawn at the US Open, becoming the first teenager to win a major title since Nadal in 2005 and the youngest world No 1 in history. Now Auger-Aliassime and Tiafoe – himself a semi-finalist in New York, where he pushed Alcaraz all the way in a five-set epic – have picked up the baton.
“To do it here in Laver Cup, win for the first time, how bad Mac wanted it, how bad everybody else wanted it – seeing what Felix did, and Jack – I thought it was just time,” said Tiafoe. “It was time to get it done.”