CHICAGO TO HOST 2018 LAVER CUP

Chicago will be the home site for the 2018 Laver Cup, as the hosting duties for the burgeoning international tennis event shifts from Team Europe to Team World. 

Next year’s Laver Cup will be held at the United Center, the 23,500-seat home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. The inaugural edition, won Sunday by Team Europe, 15-9, was held at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.

The 2018 Laver Cup will be contested Sept. 21-23.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled, coming off an incredibly successful inaugural Laver Cup, to be hosting this event in the United States next year,” said USTA President Katrina Adams, who grew up on Chicago’s West Side. “It’s personally thrilling for the Laver Cup to be coming to my hometown of Chicago. To be associated with the legacy of the United Center and working with their team will allow us to showcase this event and attract more players to our sport. 

“We know the energy of Chicago sports fans, and because of that, we know that this will be a great success and a great opportunity to continue to grow tennis.”

The last time professional tennis was hosted in Chicago was 1997, when Lindsay Davenport won the WTA’s Ameritech Cup. The last professional men’s event hosted in Chicago was the 1991Volvo Tennis/Chicago tournament, where Team World captain John McEnroe defeated Team World vice-captain Patrick McEnroe in a brother vs. brother final. 

The Laver Cup is a three-day event pitting six of the top players from Europe against six of the best from the rest of the world. It features a unique format that includes three singles matches and one doubles match each day. 

Those competing in 2017 included Americans John Isner, Sam Querrey, Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe as well as fellow Team World standouts Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov. They faced off against a Team Europe squad of Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.

For more, visit LaverCup.com.