Why Novak Djokovic will not join Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at Laver Cup

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Novak Djokovic will not be playing alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup.

By MIKAEL MCKENZIE
PUBLISHED: 07:00, Sun, Sep 15, 2019 | UPDATED: 12:13, Sun, Sep 15, 2019

Novak Djokovic appears to have not been invited to compete at the Laver Cup this year.

The Serbian made his debut at the newly-formed event in 2018 and he helped Team Europe defend the title alongside Roger Federer.

However, the world No 1 will not take part when the tournament travels to Geneva next weekend.

But the good news for tennis fans is Rafael Nadal will return after he played his part in Europe winning the inaugural competition in 2017, but skipped last year due to injury.

It seemed to be a late decision not to include Djokovic in the six-man squad as Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed the final spot only a month ago.

Earlier this year 16-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic admitted he was unsure on the situation.

“I’m not sure. We still don't know,” he said of his participation.

However, Djokovic was not invited to the pre-Wimbledon Laver Cup meeting in London which hinted he would be omitted this time around.

Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev joined Federer and Nadal at Japanese restaurant ZELA which suggests it may not have been Djokovic’s own decision to skip the tournament.

The 32-year-old spoke highly of the competition, named after the legendary Rod Laver, when it was announced it will be becoming an official ATP event from next year.
Djokovic said: “The Laver Cup is a true celebration of tennis that is loved by the fans and embraced by the players,” said the 15-time Grand Slam champion.”
Tension has been high between the leading three players in the world because of the recent political drama which has engulfed the ATP tour.

Djokovic, chairman of the player council, led a revolt against ATP chairman Chris Kermode, who is being made to step down at the end of the year.

Federer and Nadal were both very vocal in wanting the Brit to remain in power but they were unable to do anything about it.

As a result, they both joined the player council following a string of resignations this summer.

And there is expected to be many upcoming battles in the tennis boardroom, which could potentially have played their part in Djokovic not attending the Laver Cup.

 

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
Federer is like the creator of this tournament, so obviously he is gonna be at his "own" tournament. Nadal played the first year, last year Djokovic played. Seems like they alternate. Would be too OP to have all 3 of them in the same team.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Man, all people care about is seeing their guy win slams... the dude won't get hurt at a LC event, he won't even play full speed, he, you know... actually likes tennis, likes camaraderie, has a passion for tennis, and might just want to have some stress free fun tennis.

Plus, he knows he needs favors from Fed as well.

Not sure how a fan of either would not dig this. This is a unique venue and a celebration in tennis. This is a quick and fun tourney.

It can be entertaining... if you let it be.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
djokovic-chess05.jpg
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Federer is like the creator of this tournament, so obviously he is gonna be at his "own" tournament. Nadal played the first year, last year Djokovic played. Seems like they alternate. Would be too OP to have all 3 of them in the same team.
No. Rafa did not play last year because he was injured.

The Express:

"But the good news for tennis fans is Rafael Nadal will return after he played his part in Europe winning the inaugural competition in 2017, but skipped last year due to injury."
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Novak Djokovic will not be playing alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup.

By MIKAEL MCKENZIE
PUBLISHED: 07:00, Sun, Sep 15, 2019 | UPDATED: 12:13, Sun, Sep 15, 2019

Novak Djokovic appears to have not been invited to compete at the Laver Cup this year.

The Serbian made his debut at the newly-formed event in 2018 and he helped Team Europe defend the title alongside Roger Federer.

However, the world No 1 will not take part when the tournament travels to Geneva next weekend.

But the good news for tennis fans is Rafael Nadal will return after he played his part in Europe winning the inaugural competition in 2017, but skipped last year due to injury.

It seemed to be a late decision not to include Djokovic in the six-man squad as Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed the final spot only a month ago.

Earlier this year 16-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic admitted he was unsure on the situation.

“I’m not sure. We still don't know,” he said of his participation.

However, Djokovic was not invited to the pre-Wimbledon Laver Cup meeting in London which hinted he would be omitted this time around.

Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev joined Federer and Nadal at Japanese restaurant ZELA which suggests it may not have been Djokovic’s own decision to skip the tournament.

The 32-year-old spoke highly of the competition, named after the legendary Rod Laver, when it was announced it will be becoming an official ATP event from next year.
Djokovic said: “The Laver Cup is a true celebration of tennis that is loved by the fans and embraced by the players,” said the 15-time Grand Slam champion.”
Tension has been high between the leading three players in the world because of the recent political drama which has engulfed the ATP tour.

Djokovic, chairman of the player council, led a revolt against ATP chairman Chris Kermode, who is being made to step down at the end of the year.

Federer and Nadal were both very vocal in wanting the Brit to remain in power but they were unable to do anything about it.

As a result, they both joined the player council following a string of resignations this summer.

And there is expected to be many upcoming battles in the tennis boardroom, which could potentially have played their part in Djokovic not attending the Laver Cup.


As for this "Japanese restaurant ZELA" (in London), where "Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev joined Federer and Nadal",
it's partly owned by Rafa (& Cristiano Ronaldo & Enrique Iglesias & Pau Gasol and some businessmen). :)

 
Last edited:

Rabin

Professional
The hateboner people have for this event is ridiculous. Rafa is going to be fine, it's literally three days. I'm looking forward to a stress free tennis weekend with some doubles action.

As for Djokovic - maybe they don't have the means to allow for two pretty high attendance fees? Rafa and Djokovic are obviously going to get more than the others.
 

Genie Of the Bank

Hall of Fame
Anyone know why Djoker would want Kermode out and Roger and Rafa would want him to remain?
Allegedly the Americans supported Novak because they wanted Kermode position. Also player below fifty ranking supported Novak because he advocated for more money for lower rank players. Roger in the past always supported Cris Kermode and the tournament directors. He justified that support because of better conditions for players and the total prize money, especially for the winner and the finalist. Novak probably thought he could kill two birds with one stone, but the British press hounds were unleashed on him.
 

Tenez101

Banned
Novak Djokovic will not be playing alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup.

By MIKAEL MCKENZIE
PUBLISHED: 07:00, Sun, Sep 15, 2019 | UPDATED: 12:13, Sun, Sep 15, 2019

Novak Djokovic appears to have not been invited to compete at the Laver Cup this year.

The Serbian made his debut at the newly-formed event in 2018 and he helped Team Europe defend the title alongside Roger Federer.

However, the world No 1 will not take part when the tournament travels to Geneva next weekend.

But the good news for tennis fans is Rafael Nadal will return after he played his part in Europe winning the inaugural competition in 2017, but skipped last year due to injury.

It seemed to be a late decision not to include Djokovic in the six-man squad as Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed the final spot only a month ago.

Earlier this year 16-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic admitted he was unsure on the situation.

“I’m not sure. We still don't know,” he said of his participation.

However, Djokovic was not invited to the pre-Wimbledon Laver Cup meeting in London which hinted he would be omitted this time around.

Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev joined Federer and Nadal at Japanese restaurant ZELA which suggests it may not have been Djokovic’s own decision to skip the tournament.

The 32-year-old spoke highly of the competition, named after the legendary Rod Laver, when it was announced it will be becoming an official ATP event from next year.
Djokovic said: “The Laver Cup is a true celebration of tennis that is loved by the fans and embraced by the players,” said the 15-time Grand Slam champion.”
Tension has been high between the leading three players in the world because of the recent political drama which has engulfed the ATP tour.

Djokovic, chairman of the player council, led a revolt against ATP chairman Chris Kermode, who is being made to step down at the end of the year.

Federer and Nadal were both very vocal in wanting the Brit to remain in power but they were unable to do anything about it.

As a result, they both joined the player council following a string of resignations this summer.

And there is expected to be many upcoming battles in the tennis boardroom, which could potentially have played their part in Djokovic not attending the Laver Cup.

It's because of 40-15.
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Allegedly the Americans supported Novak because they wanted Kermode position. Also player below fifty ranking supported Novak because he advocated for more money for lower rank players. Roger in the past always supported Cris Kermode and the tournament directors. He justified that support because of better conditions for players and the total prize money, especially for the winner and the finalist. Novak probably thought he could kill two birds with one stone, but the British press hounds were unleashed on him.
I´m against commie logic, and if Novak truly believes the gulf between the Big 3 and the rest will be made smaller by giving the useless generations more money, then he´d have to be pretty stupid.

Or maybe he wants to give them more money to make them try even less. Might help him win 20 slams.
 

HuusHould

Hall of Fame
Man, all people care about is seeing their guy win slams... the dude won't get hurt at a LC event, he won't even play full speed, he, you know... actually likes tennis, likes camaraderie, has a passion for tennis, and might just want to have some stress free fun tennis.

Plus, he knows he needs favors from Fed as well.

Not sure how a fan of either would not dig this. This is a unique venue and a celebration in tennis. This is a quick and fun tourney.

It can be entertaining... if you let it be.

It is a fun concept, but the spectacle is reliant on the rest of the world team being competitive, including in the singles.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
It is a fun concept, but the spectacle is reliant on the rest of the world team being competitive, including in the singles.
It has been right up till the last day, or last match so far. The way the points work it keeps everyone in it till the end.

Sure, it would be nice to have more even competition, but it can still be fun. I mean Isner vs Djoker (or maybe Rafa the year before) last year and Fed vs Isner. NK vs Fed the year before.

The you have the "entertainment" matches such as Rafa Fed doubles, NK vs whoever and so forth.
 

irishnadalfan1983

Hall of Fame
Federer is like the creator of this tournament, so obviously he is gonna be at his "own" tournament. Nadal played the first year, last year Djokovic played. Seems like they alternate. Would be too OP to have all 3 of them in the same team.

I thought Rafa was due to play last year but pulled out injured? Or maybe my memory is fading me?!
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Maybe they could do a Team Legends vs Team New Gen instead.
It could be individual round-robin matches formatted like the World Tour Finals pitting the living legends vs the highest ranked young players.
So it should be:

Round 1

(1) Djokovic vs (4) Medvedev
(2) Nadal vs (5) Thiem
(3) Federer vs (6) Zverev

Round 2

(1) Djokovic vs (6) Zverev
(2) Nadal vs (4) Medvedev
(3) Federer vs (5) Thiem

Round 3

(1) Djokovic vs (5) Thiem
(2) Nadal vs (6) Zverev
(3) Federer vs (4) Medvedev

Then tally the points based on sets and games won, etc. That might work. Maybe change the surface for this event exclusively to carpet so we can see more attacking and aggression and more winners.
 

Genie Of the Bank

Hall of Fame
I´m against commie logic, and if Novak truly believes the gulf between the Big 3 and the rest will be made smaller by giving the useless generations more money, then he´d have to be pretty stupid.

Or maybe he wants to give them more money to make them try even less. Might help him win 20 slams.
I disagree with hicks, backwater logic. I thought that it died out with John Edgar Hoover. Players below 50 rankings have big problems to pay all the expenses: airplane tickets, accommodation, coach, fitness coach. Usually they don't have any big sponsors. I think that tournaments pay only 12% of total yearly revenue to all players, so the sport can not grow and that is the main issue Novak was adressing.
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
I disagree with hicks, backwater logic. I thought that it died out with John Edgar Hoover. Players below 50 rankings have big problems to pay all the expenses: airplane tickets, accommodation, coach, fitness coach. Usually they don't have any big sponsors. I think that tournaments pay only 12% of total yearly revenue to all players, so the sport can not grow and that is the main issue Novak was adressing.
My my aren´t we the enlightened one, so advanced and so 21st century... I´m so sorry, but I didn´t realize bohemian hipsters were to be found in these backwaters...

I realize that the notion of Utopia gets a lot of gullible people excited, especially those in the West who´d never even had a whiff first-hand of communism, but I do need to remind you that not having a big budget serves as a big motivator to step up and put in that extra effort to win those matches when one is staying at rinky hotels (allegedly) and traveling by bicycle (allegedly).

The reason Big 3 dominate isn´t a lack of funds, it´s a lack of will. This generation of young players is THE worst ever, and I´ll be damned if I would ever support giving them more money, with the kind of lame results they´d had so far. They still earn a lot more than low'ranked tennis pros decades ago. Do we rally need to turn everyone in the top 100 into millioniares?

This decade is the ONLY DECADE in the history of the game when nobody born two decades earlier had won ANY slam title. But clearly the way to solve this generation´s miserable tally is to give them more money... It´s always been the socialist way to hand out money to those who least deserve it...

And what Edgar J Hoover has to do this with this, I have no clue... I live in Serbia, barely even know anything about him. But I do know A LOT about how socialism works i.e. how it fails to work, every single time.

Perhaps it´s time to cut down on the Disney movies?
 
Last edited:

ChrisRF

Legend
Maybe they could do a Team Legends vs Team New Gen instead.
It could be individual round-robin matches formatted like the World Tour Finals pitting the living legends vs the highest ranked young players.
So it should be:

Round 1

(1) Djokovic vs (4) Medvedev
(2) Nadal vs (5) Thiem
(3) Federer vs (6) Zverev

Round 2

(1) Djokovic vs (6) Zverev
(2) Nadal vs (4) Medvedev
(3) Federer vs (5) Thiem

Round 3

(1) Djokovic vs (5) Thiem
(2) Nadal vs (6) Zverev
(3) Federer vs (4) Medvedev

Then tally the points based on sets and games won, etc. That might work. Maybe change the surface for this event exclusively to carpet so we can see more attacking and aggression and more winners.
So it’s a race about who destroys the Next Gen most dominantly? I somehow like that idea, because maybe they try harder than ever when something like 5 games lost to Zverev could be too much. :-D
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
So it’s a race about who destroys the Next Gen most dominantly? I somehow like that idea, because maybe they try harder than ever when something like 5 games lost to Zverev could be too much. :-D
I wouldn't go that far. If you remember, Zverev has beaten Djokovic and Federer multiple times. Thiem likewise has beaten the big 3 as well. Medvedev has beaten Djokovic too and just went 5 sets with Nadal.
 

ChrisRF

Legend
I wouldn't go that far. If you remember, Zverev has beaten Djokovic and Federer multiple times. Thiem likewise has beaten the big 3 as well. Medvedev has beaten Djokovic too and just went 5 sets with Nadal.
That’s why I said Zverev, because there is no sign that Zverev can trouble any good player ever again. Honestly, his time seems to be over. Or if we look at the circumstances of his big wins, maybe it always was an illusion. I mean, normally I wouldn’t say someone can be lucky that often, but in all of his masters wins he needed a Federer injury, a Djokovic slump, a Thiem final collapse or something like that.

I admit that Medvedev could become a decent player though. Thiem is questionable because the way he plans his career isn’t that intelligent and unfortunately Rafa is in his way on clay. But I agree that he is capable of beating the Big 3 on his day.
 

dellealpi10

Rookie
I think Laver cup has more meaning than our thinking here. Every players are very excited about it and the spectators are, too. Last year, when World team lost, Kyrgios cried. I have never seen him to cry because of his lost during his career.
 

Tennisbg

Professional
I think Laver cup has more meaning than our thinking here. Every players are very excited about it and the spectators are, too. Last year, when World team lost, Kyrgios cried. I have never seen him to cry because of his lost during his career.
They have to fake emotions in order to get their millions, its written in their contracts. No one normal would cry for losing in this exhibition.
 

Shaolin

Talk Tennis Guru
The hateboner people have for this event is ridiculous. Rafa is going to be fine, it's literally three days. I'm looking forward to a stress free tennis weekend with some doubles action.

As for Djokovic - maybe they don't have the means to allow for two pretty high attendance fees? Rafa and Djokovic are obviously going to get more than the others.

Funny thing is that 90% of the ones complaining about Laver Cup are still gonna be watching with a nice bowl of popcorn :-D

Same thing with the Kyrgios haters. Complain all day but still watching every time.
 

Genie Of the Bank

Hall of Fame
My my aren´t we the enlightened one, so advanced and so 21st century... I´m so sorry, but I didn´t realize bohemian hipsters were to be found in these backwaters...

I realize that the notion of Utopia gets a lot of gullible people excited, especially those in the West who´d never even had a whiff first-hand of communism, but I do need to remind you that not having a big budget serves as a big motivator to step up and put in that extra effort to win those matches when one is staying at rinky hotels (allegedly) and traveling by bicycle (allegedly).

The reason Big 3 dominate isn´t a lack of funds, it´s a lack of will. This generation of young players is THE worst ever, and I´ll be damned if I would ever support giving them more money, with the kind of lame results they´d had so far. They still earn a lot more than low'ranked tennis pros decades ago. Do we rally need to turn everyone in the top 100 into millioniares?

This decade is the ONLY DECADE in the history of the game when nobody born two decades earlier had won ANY slam title. But clearly the way to solve this generation´s miserable tally is to give them more money... It´s always been the socialist way to hand out money to those who least deserve it...

And what Edgar J Hoover has to do this with this, I have no clue... I live in Serbia, barely even know anything about him. But I do know A LOT about how socialism works i.e. how it fails to work, every single time.

Perhaps it´s time to cut down on the Disney movies?

I don't consider myself enlighted. I am a bookworm. Books helped me to survive 90's war years in Serbia when majority of my friends were killing themselves with alcohol and drugs. I was born and raised in the George Washington street in the district of Stari Grad in the city centre of Belgrade. I am old enough to remember good living standard of the citizens at the end of the 1980's. So I resent the last 30 years in Serbia. I remember all the beatings from the police who came from the countryside to the city centre of the capital. And I said that even though my close cousin was a police chief in one of the districts in the city.

About the Big 3 they have an advantage because they are talented and they are willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their goals. And that is to be the best ever. You can not say other players suck for the last 15 years. I listen dozens and dozens of tennis podcasts. The main conclusion was that the people from the West want to be tennis players to become milioners over night. They crack mentally when they can't achieve that. Players from the rest of the world are satisfied when they have $100 000 income per year.

I hate communism from the bottom of my soul and resent the royalists. I consider myself a republican. My great grandmother had born 21 children. Only six survived to the adulthood. The three sons and the three daughters. Under the law of the king Alexander the sisters and the daughters couldn't inherit anything. After the Second World War the communists have confiscated two shops and a bar, and the two houses from my grandmother. They were all thrown out on the streets. Especially because she was close cousin of Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis aka the leader of the Black Hand and because she married a Petrovic family member (a distant cousin from Petar Petrovic Njegos, a bourgeoisie, from Zvezdara).

Edgar J Hoover was labeling everybody a communist, so he can prosecute them almost in a fascist way. You can see the movie to understand it: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3203606/

I like the old Disney's cartoons. Especially this one:
 
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