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via Getty

via Getty

Thye 64-year-old American tennis legend, John McEnroe had officially retired from tennis in 2006. Despite winning 77 titles in his singles career including 7 major triumphs, his confrontational behavior on the court once put him third in the list of most hated men in history. Recently, the captain of the Team World in the Laver Cup was heavily criticized by the 26YO ATP Star. But why?

Alexander Bublik, the current Kazakhstani number-one tennis player recently dropped a bombshell regarding the team selection in Laver Cup. The former number 25, had a remarkable season this year by clinching two ATP titles and now he sheds light on his exclusion from the Laver Cup.

Kazakhstani tennis icon takes a jibe at John McEnroe

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Laver Cup is an international men’s team tennis event held on indoor hard court. The tournament consists of two teams- Team Europe and Team World. Team World consists of players who belong from all the continents of the world except Europe. But despite being named Team World, the team mostly featured Americans over the years. This has resulted in the recent rise of controversy as the captain picks 3 out of 6 picks. John McEnroe has been the captain of the Team World since the inaugural season in 2017. So, he would definitely be in the firing line.

USA Today via Reuters

So, when Bublik was asked about his exclusion from the Laver Cup he said, “It’s quite a complicated story. But John McEnroe seems to think that the World team is America, Canada, Australia and South America. Which may well be the case. At that time, Diego Schwartzman seemed to be No. 10 in the world – it was impossible not to take him. I have expressed a desire, I would like to play and I love team events. But for some reason, I am sure that “the world” is everyone who speaks English. I will be glad if he reads it (smiles).

READ MORE: ‘Kick That Guy Andre Agassi’s A**’- John McEnroe Makes His Ambitions Clear as a Monumental Clash Inches Closer

Each team is led by a tennis legend. While McEnroe leads Team World, the Swedish former world number one, Bjorn Borg leads Team Europe. 12 matches were played over three days. While three players are qualified based on their ATP singles ranking, the other three have to be in the good books of the captains. Let’s have a look at the picks over the last few years.

American players’ dominance in the selection of Team World in Laver Cup

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The first edition of the Laver Cup took place at the 02 Arena in Prague in 2017. It consisted of 4 Americans, 1 Australian, and 1 Canadian. Next year we saw 3 Americans in the team. Even in n 2019, there were 3 Americans out of the 6 and the rest were Australian and Canadians.

Then we had a gap of one year due to the pandemic before returning in 2022 and continuing the story from where it had left. The 2022 season was special as it marked the farewell event of the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer. But even here there were 3 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Argentinian, and 1 Australian in the Team World.

The 2023 season marked the 6th edition of the tournament and it was held in Vancouver from September 22-24 at the Rogers Arena. Team World defeated Team Europe by 13-2 to take the H2H margin to 4-2. This time the team had 4 Americans!

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The 2024 event is going to be held in Berlin from September 20-22. Bublik has already changed his nationality once in search of better facilities and opportunities. Now, it would be interesting to see what he has to do more to get a place at the Team World.

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