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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2018 – Tennis Channel is back as the the exclusive television home for this weekend’s Laver Cup. Now in its second year, the tournament features six of the top European men’s stars against six of the top players from the rest of the world. The network will carry the entire three-day event live beginning Friday, Sept. 21, at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Tennis Channel will have more than 25 hours of live coverage dedicated to Laver Cup this year. On the eve of the event, Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. ET, the network will have a lead-in edition of Tennis Channel Live at the Laver Cup. The hour-long preview show will look back at last year’s competition and give thoughts on what’s to come in 2018. For the first two days, there is a day and night session and one single block of matches on Sunday. Prior to each session viewers can catch Tennis Channel Live at the Laver Cup, hosted by Tennis Channel mainstay Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) with Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76), coach Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone) and former player Jimmy Arias (@ariastennis).
Hall of Famers Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe return as coaches for Team Europe and Team World, respectively. The teams will play each other over the course of three days, with increasing stakes every day. After being played at the O² Arena in Prague in 2017, this year’s event will take place at the United Center in Chicago. Every year the exhibition alternates between Europe and the rest of the world, with the 2019 event taking place in Geneva.
Each team is playing to reach 13 total points with matches increasing in value from Friday through Sunday. Matches are worth one point each on Friday, and grow to three points each on Sunday. All sessions will feature three singles matches and a doubles match, with no repeated pairings. If the two teams are tied after the Sunday session, there will be a doubles match to decide the championship. Last year Team Europe won but not before Team World rallied on Sunday, winning two matches to force a close showdown between Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios.
Team Europe will once again feature the winningest Grand Slam champion in men’s tennis history with World No. 2 Federer. Joining the team this year is 2018 Wimbledon and 2018 US Open champion Novak Djokovic. Filling out the rest of the roster for Europe is Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin and Kyle Edmund. Team World returns a majority of its lineup with with Americans John Isner, Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock, as well as Australian Kyrgios. 2018 Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson and Diego Schwarzman join this year to complete the roster.
Veteran broadcaster Haber will anchor the network’s desk coverage throughout the weekend. Arias will also be on Tennis Channel Live and will provide analysis from the desk. Announcer Alex Faust (@alex_faust) will call the action with Davenport and Annacone offering analysis. Sports Illustrated executive editor and network reporter Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) will be a part of Thursday’s lead-in show. Star of HBO’s Ballers Omar Miller (@OmarMiller) will also be in Chicago with new Advantage Omar segments. Miller with Tennis Channel will explore Chicago and show off the city’s culture and hotspots.
Tennis Channel’s Live Laver Cup Coverage Schedule
Date Time (ET) Event Friday, Sept. 21 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Singles 7 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Singles, doubles Saturday, Sept. 22 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Singles 7 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Singles, doubles Sunday, Sept. 23 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Singles, doubles (possible doubles decider)
About the Laver Cup The Laver Cup is a joint initiative between TRIDENT8, Tennis Australia, the USTA and Jorge Paulo Lemann.
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