Dynamic Doubles Duo: Federer, Nadal to team up in Laver Cup

Nadal, a 2016 gold medalist in Rio, is No. 5.

A comeback to the top of the ranks in tennis is possible if he continues being healthy and the tourney in Australia would serve as a preparatory tournament in 2017’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open.

“This is our idea of the Ryder Cup”, McEnroe said at a media conference in NY. Tennis Australia and Jorge Paulo Lemann, a co-founder of the Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital, are also backing the Laver Cup. “I think that has to be a new feeling for all the top players around the world”, Laver said.

Each team has six players. There will be six men on each team: four based on the rankings after Wimbledon, and two captain’s picks announced after the U.S. Open. Future Laver Cups will rotate between major cities across the globe.

Borg and McEnroe announced on Wednesday that they had committed to lead the teams for the first three years of the new competition, patterned after golf’s Ryder Cup, and joined Rod Laver, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal at a news conference. The Spanish player has struggled with injuries in recent years but had a good showing at the tennis events at the 2016 Rio Olympics. McEnroe acknowledged that for now at least, his World squad would be the heavy underdog, though a lot can happen in just over a year.

“It’s going to be the first time in my career that I’m going to play in Australia the first week of the season and I’m really excited about it”, Nadal told the tournament’s official website.

“Rafa and I have faced each other across the net countless times”, said Federer.

Four matches will be played each day, three singles and one doubles.

Each match on Friday will have one point at stake.

Each match will be best of three sets with ad scoring with the third set a 10-point champions’ tie-break if needed.