London | The Big Four line up!

It is now confirmed that the Big Four will be playing in the Blue of Europe at this year’s Laver Cup scheduled for the O2 in September, with Novak Djokovic, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, joining the line-up to form what must be one the strongest tennis teams ever assembled!

Each year our goal is to win. With Rafa, Roger, Andy and Novak on the team, I like our chances! Bjorn Borg

The Serbian former world number one joins the three other players who have dominated the sport during the past decades, namely Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray, all also former world number ones who hold 66 grand slam singles tiles between them.

“It’s the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you’re normally competing against and to be joining Rafa, Roger and Andy – three of my biggest all-time rivals – it’s going to be a truly unique moment in the history of our sport,” Djokovic said in a recent statement.

Team Europe captain, the Swedish legend Bjorn Borg, added: “I don’t think I could have imagined having these four icons of the sport on one team together.

I know they, like I, appreciate the significance of this moment and will be truly up for it. Each year our goal is to win. With Rafa, Roger, Andy and Novak on the team, I like our chances!”

In the four years it has been played, Team Europe have yet to be beaten.

The full line-up for this year’s competition is still to be finalized. Besides the Big Four, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman and Taylor Fritz of the US have confirmed that they will be playing and representing Team World under the captaincy of another legend, John McEnroe.

First launched in 2017 and inspired by Golf’s Ryder Cup, the Laver Cup pitches a team consisting of European players taking on players from the rest of the world. Each team is made up of six players.

The event is named after Australian great Rod Laver who is the last man to have won all four major tournaments within the same season, the calendar grand slam. And he did it twice.

This year’s Laver Cup is being held in London at The O2, the former home of the ATP Finals before it moved to Turin in 2021, from September 23-25..