Agassi on Laver Cup: “One of the Most Memorable Weeks I’ve Ever Spent on a Tennis Court”

It’s a well-known fact that players can benefit immensely from the Laver Cup experience. Just think about how experience of rubbing elbows with tennis luminaries such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic must have informed the members of Team Europe in the past. Or being captained by Bjorn Borg or John McEnroe, as Laver Cup participants have done for the first seven years of the competition. 

It’s like getting a week’s worth of free lessons in how to be a tennis legend.

But this year there was a different mood in the air, as new captains replaced McEnroe and Borg, and no members of the Big Three participated. 

It ended up that the captains were actually learning from the players – at least that is how Andre Agassi saw it. The eight-time major champion called the week one of the best of his career, which is pretty remarkable given just how much Agassi has been through on a tennis court. 

“Everybody played a part in making this one of the most memorable weeks I’ve ever spent on a tennis court,” he said on Sunday after Team World clinched it’s 15-9 win over Team Europe in San Francisco. “I can honestly say that, and that’s saying something, because it was a lot of years I’ve been out there in one form or another with a perceived team, but this really was a team. So proud of the guys. Just unflappable. They never stopped believing.” 

Agassi said that he learned something from every one of his players, and added that he felt he didn’t need to do much more than listen and encourage to ensure peak-level performance. 

“What I learned is kind of what I continue to learn, which is try to do more listening than talking and try to stay out of their way. If they notice you, hopefully it’s only because you’re adding or keeping their eyes on the prize or on the purpose,” he said. 

Ditto for Aussie Pat Rafter, who featured as Team World’s Vice-Captain and loved every minute of the experience. 

“When Andre asked me to come along, we had a bit of a vision,” Rafter said in the final press conference of the weekend. “As [Andre] said, on paper, we looked a bit thin. The boys came along. They pulled hard. It just showed you how competitive it is amongst these guys.

“I’ve been removed from tennis for quite a long time, and watching these guys play was incredible. Their confidence and self-belief in this team was what made it all happen. The buy-in that they had with Andre and myself, whether it was individual or together, it worked really well. It was pretty seamless.”

Rafter says he hopes to maintain a connection with his Team World contingent, and adds that he is up for helping them advance their careers in any way possibl.e 

“I just hope they go away and we hope that we have some buy-in for these guys for the rest of the year, as we said, whenever they want to call up and have a chat or how we can help,” he said. “We want to make this event one of the greatest teams events there is. I think it’s already established nearly as that… loved it. I loved these guys, because they put their heart and soul out there, and they bought into it and made Andre and I buy in.”