Team Europe’s jubilee pictures at the Laver Cup went around the world.Would the same team format have a chance with the ladies?
The premiere edition of the Laver Cup was a complete success.Players, fans and journalists were largely in agreement.The jubilee pictures of Team Europe with Rafael Nadal, who falls around Roger Federer’s neck, went around the world.After the Laver Cup was over, the question has already been raised as to whether such a team competition is also possible for the women’s teams – perhaps starting in 2019.
A look at the current world ranking shows a similar picture to that of the men.It dominates Europe.The top 20 include 16 players from Europe plus four American players.The US ladies around Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Catherine Bellis are, however, on the rise and could shape women’s tennis in the next few years.According to the current state of the art, Eugenie Bouchard and 17-year-old Bianca Andreescu from Canada and Daria Gavrilova and Ashleigh Barty from Australia, among others, would be eligible for this competition.Other candidates with the certain star appeal for such a competition are Olympic champion Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) and Naomi Osaka (Japan).
And what about a suitable name for such a competition?How about Evert Cup, named after the very popular American Chris Evert?Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova on the respective coach benches would have a great charm.The big question will be whether the Laver Cup produced these emotional scenes and pictures just once or whether it was the beginning of a great success story.The implementation of a female counterpart depends largely on the willingness of top players to participate in such a team format.An intercontinental competition with great team spirit seems to be a bit problematic at the moment, if you look at the drive-by handshakes on the WTA tour, which can be seen again and again.