“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built with the Laver Cup,” said Roger Federer, who helped co-create the event where tennis players team up together to either represent Team Europe or Team World! However, there’s also another tournament that follows a team pattern, the Davis Cup, which was founded in 1900! Naturally, a comparison between the two events has become inevitable. While some might call the Laver Cup, where players do not earn any ranking points, more of an exhibition event, many have shared their contrasting opinions as well. And after Andy Roddick’s recent statements on the matter, John Isner has also opened up with his views!

Talking about teaming up in a sport like tennis during the Tennis Channel Live Podcast’s September 20th episode, Andy Roddick shared how Laver Cup’s success proved his initial skepticism about the tournament wrong. The former World No. 1 said, “Well, I can only speak from the Davis Cup experience, which isn’t what it was once. I think Laver Cup is aiming to take its lunch a little bit and it has successfully done so.” Roddick initially doubted the Laver Cup’s authenticity, calling it a “bit of a bluff.” 

However, he later understood that it “wasn’t an overrated exhibition.” Now as the Laver Cup, which became an ATP Tour-sanctioned event in 2019, is in its seventh edition, Roddick couldn’t help but appreciate how the organizers did a “great” job with it. He summed up by saying, “It’s the first thing that we’ve seen in tennis that started from ‘Let’s make an amazing product for TV and work.”

While Andy Roddick, who played a key role in propelling his team to success in the 2007 Davis Cup, sided with Laver Cup, John Isner during the Nothing Major podcast’s September 20th episode, echoed a similar sentiment. While answering the host’s question on the mindset of players during the Laver Cup (which has extended its partnership with ATP for another five years), Isner admitted, “As far as that, that event is concerned, we were maybe a little bit up in the air, like, is this an exhibition? Is this a serious event? And like, we, I think most of us went into the match thinking, all right, this is a serious event. We want to win.”

Isner, who was there at the Laver Cup 2018, emphasized that after the first match of that event, (between Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov), his skepticism went away as he witnessed a competitive match. “And so for me, there’s, this is not an exhibition at all,” said the former American player. Isner articulated that even though the match might lack ranking points, players like the “atmosphere” of the event as it brings out the best in them and they play in the event with “pride,” often leading to having goosebumps on the court! He concluded by further emphasizing, “no exhibition at all.” 

Although Isner’s opinion on the event has remained the same over the years, in the case of Andy Roddick, it was not always the same. Roddick once revealed the time when he changed his mind about the Laver Cup.

Here’s why Andy Roddick’s view on the Laver Cup changed

In 2021, Federer invited Andy Roddick to watch the Laver Cup in September. Roddick, who called himself “lucky” to have got the opportunity, later admitted how he was impressed after watching the matches. “The genius lies in that they started like what is the absolute best TV product that we can put out there for three days,” he said during an episode of ‘Served.’

Roddick appreciated the idea of having matches where top players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Federer could compete alongside each other during doubles matches, attracting fans worldwide. “It seems like they got smart and we got smart in tennis and they figured out, pay everyone a lot of money, figure it out later, and have faith in if you build it they will come.”

Calling it ‘sustainable,’ Andy Roddick admitted that he is now a huge fan of the event! As the Laver Cup continues to grow, its influence on the sport will also continue to increase.