The Laver Cup, which takes place in London this weekend, has achieved plenty: bringing the Big Four together on the same team, putting Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on court together in a doubles match, and even earning a place on the ATP’s official calendar despite being an exhibition event that offers no ranking points.
But there is one promise it has yet to fulfil: venturing beyond North America when Team World play at home.
Nine years on, the United States has staged three of the four editions in which the “World” hosted Team Europe: Chicago in 2018, Boston in 2021 and San Francisco in 2025.
The only time they have played at home in another country was in 2023, when Vancouver hosted the event, just 50 kilometres from the US border.
Roger Federer, who created the event together with his manager Tony Godsick, spoke for years about potentially expanding it, but his words still amount to an unfulfilled promise.
“I think we need to go to Asia, South America. Keep moving forward, not just stay in North America,” he said during the 2024 edition.
In 2025, on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, he reiterated that ambition: “The Laver Cup is proving a success. We can take tennis to places that perhaps aren’t as used to seeing it live. Although we’ll return to London in 2026, it’s very possible that we’ll be in Asia or South America soon.”
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But that ambition never translated into action. In 2027, the event will be held in Inglewood, California, specifically at the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Only in 2029 could the event explore new horizons, with Brazil, the United Arab Emirates or Asia among the most logical destinations. The event’s slot in the calendar, coinciding with the Asian swing, the petrodollars of the Middle East or the possibility of seeing João Fonseca play in front of his home crowd could all appeal to the organisers.
“They think the world is the United States”
The United States is not only Team World’s favourite host, but also the country that supplies the most players.
This year, half of Team World are from the United States — Taylor Fritz, Brandon Nakashima and Learner Tien — as was also the case in 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
In 2017 and 2023, the imbalance was even more pronounced, with four US players selected for a team of just six.
US players were in the minority only in 2021, when Reilly Opelka and John Isner were the sole representatives.
Canada, meanwhile, played an important role in the make-up of the teams in the early years of the event, but has gone unrepresented in the last three editions. In fact, in 2017, 2019 and 2023, five of the six Team World players were from North America.
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That barely disguised preference annoyed Alexander Bublik in 2025. “I think the captains always choose the guys who speak English. They think the world is the United States, or that everyone speaks English. That’s what I think,” he said in an interview with Bounces that was published in Spanish by CLAY.
Ironically, the Kazakh was selected this year. “What I said was a long time ago. But I think the Laver Cup has developed the image of being a very competitive tournament, and I think it’s very good to have a tournament that is invitation-only — being invited feels like a privilege,” he told CLAY.
The captaincy is another example of North American influence on the team. Between 2017 and 2024, Team World was led by John McEnroe, who was then replaced by his compatriot Andre Agassi.
Team Europe can be criticised for often featuring the same names and for having already returned to the same host city — London also staged the event in 2022 — but the fact remains that the blue team represents just one continent, rather than the rest of the world, as Team World claims to.
That is precisely the major challenge that remains: expanding the map and looking beyond North America.
