TEAM WORLD
Team World - 13
Team Europe - 8
THE MODERATOR: Good evening. Welcome to the press conference for Team World.
Questions.
Q. John, is it a case of no team beats Team World five times in a row?
CAPTAIN JOHN McENROE: Yes. That reminds me of my late great buddy, Vitas Gerulaitis, who made the greatest quote in sports history: "No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."
This is amazing. I think it's great obviously for us. It's great for me. It's great for the event.
FRANCES TIAFOE: (Entering.) The champs are here!
CAPTAIN JOHN McENROE: Thank you, Rod Laver, and thank you, Roger Federer, for putting this together. It's a tremendous event. Hopefully it will become even greater in the future. I think people got a pretty indication of why it is such a great event this weekend.
Q. Frances, did you apologize to Roger after beating him on Friday night?
FRANCES TIAFOE: Absolutely not. I want to see him lit, but I'm not going to apologize to him. He's got a lot to apologize after the last 24 years after beating everybody on the tour.
No, I won't apologize, but I will say thank you for having me in this amazing event, you know, what he's done for the game, also say thank you for what he did for the game.
He's a class act. Happy to know him, happy to call him friend, happy to call him a colleague, and best wishes in his second act. But I will not apologize.
JACK SOCK: Good recovery.
Q. A question for John. Europe had the big four and lots of home support. What made the difference for you guys this year?
CAPTAIN JOHN McENROE: The difference was that we kept battling. The format is a format that things can change in a hurry. Jack's been awesome for us. You could see how close it was, the doubles.
Thank you, Jack Sock, over there, the 30-year-old. And Felix, I've got to say, you stepped up big time, man. Thank you so much for that. That was awesome.
But there was a great team spirit. So we were battling from the beginning. So I think we felt that it is the big four, but obviously the circumstances are a little different than they could have been ten years ago, five years ago.
So we knew we had a shot at it, but it was an uphill battle. I don't think that I need to be reiterating that at this point.
Thank God World won, though. Right? Even the press, goddamnit. Thank God The World won, okay? (Laughter.)
Q. You claim credit for the tactical master stroke for throwing Felix in the first two today. What was the thinking of that? And after a while, were you wondering if it had gone terribly wrong?
CAPTAIN JOHN McENROE: Well, first of all, this is something that's discussed with all of us. These guys know the ins and outs of what's going to work best.
Jack has never played with any of the players, but Felix was ready for it. You know, he had debuted last year and now he was ready to step up to the big time.
Listen, I got news for you. These guys are going to step up big time in the future, not just here. It's going to be incredible the next five years. Not just for Team World but for these individuals as well.
So just proud that I was part of that. It's absolutely awesome. That's all I can say.
Last question? No questions more for me. Ask these guys.
Q. Alex, as somebody who is proud of being a team event player, how did the Laver Cup compare for you?
ALEX de MINAUR: Look, it was amazing. Just from the sidelines being able to watch Felix do his thing, beating Novak on the biggest stage, just coming out with some incredible tennis like it was no tomorrow, seeing him in the doubles earlier today with Jack, they just lit it up, even though it was quite grim there for a second after the first set, but they weren't fazed. They came out there, guns blazing, got the job done. Of course we ended the whole act with Prime Time Foe.
TAYLOR FRITZ: Fashion Week Foe.
ALEX de MINAUR: He loves the spotlight. Did incredible out there. Played a hell of a match. Honestly, it was the most entertaining points I have ever seen in my life. We got the win, and it feels great. Happy to be a part of it.
FRANCES TIAFOE: This coming from you, Foams at the Mouth.
Q. I would ask to Felix, if could be a turning point maybe in your career of what you are doing after beating Alcaraz last week, here you beat Djokovic. Also, the first look Thursday when I saw all these amazing champions, I thought, seems like to see Dream Team in Barcelona 1992. So could be a turning point winning these kind of matches for you?
FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Yeah, it's great, but right now I'm thinking about the team. Of course I'm happy with the way I played. Happy with my performance. Right now I'm just happy for the team, really happy to celebrate with these guys.
It's been an amazing weekend. We were down yesterday night, but we came today with a big belief, and, you know, Jack and I got the job done in doubles. It was an important one. Then, yeah, was just trying to step up to the challenge.
For sure, I will try to use that as confidence for the future.
Q. I wanted to see if maybe I could ask Taylor and Tommy, who have known Frances for quite a while, to just talk about what you have thought watching his development lately maybe in these runs that he put together in New York and then performances here?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, Frances has been close to these big runs forever, you know. It's been a long time that Frances has been playing the big guys close, and, you know, losing a lot of close battles.
It's great to see lately he's been winning. It's about time that he steps up and the matches go the other way. Today was a joke. You know, he was down multiple match points. Yeah, he stepped up and he did it for the team. You know, not just here. At the US Open as well. He was pulling out those tight matches, winning those big ones.
It's just great to see. We both have known for a long time that's what he's capable of. He's just been unfortunately losing those close ones for a while, but it's always been there, though.
Q. The format is really interesting. Do you think there could be more scope for different formats in tennis, maybe mixing it up a little bit, maybe more emphasis on doubles? Could you see tennis sort of learning from the Laver Cup?
CAPTAIN JOHN McENROE: That's a good question. I'm not sure about that. I think doubles is pretty important to this event. They are trying to find their way. I don't know what the hell is going on with doubles right now in general. But that's a whole other story we don't need to get into now.
But I think what happened was is people saw how successful the Laver Cup was when it first was started, and subsequently they are starting to realize that we need to do more of these. So that's why you saw the thing before Australia and we fit in Davis Cup. Right now I don't know what the hell is going on with Davis Cup either.
To me, this is the best one of them all. I've got to be honest. Anyone that knows me knows that I played Davis Cup for 15 years. So we'll see what happens in the future. I don't know.
I doubt it would be, Let's go see some doubles players playing in an event, if that's what you're intimating. Are you friends with doubles players or something? (Laughter.)
I could tell these guys were ready to agree with me.
FRANCES TIAFOE: He doesn't mean what he just said. (Laughter.)
Q. I was going to see if you did want to offer any thoughts on Frances from my earlier question.
TOMMY PAUL: I mean, I think he's always had a pretty good level. He lost a lot of close matches in the whole US Open Series, and we were talking about it before the Open and a little bit after the Open, like he was prime for a really good run.
Obviously, I don't know if you heard it, but the whole week we were calling him Prime Time. He loves that. He loves the night sessions or the prime time matches.
I mean, I think we put him in the slot that he was in today for a reason, and he stepped up for us big time. So we were really pumped about that.
Q. Frances, can you put into words what it felt like when that last point was done, how much relief, how much excitement, what your emotions were? Where would you rate that result for yourself?
FRANCES TIAFOE: It's definitely up there. I mean, I couldn't place it right now for you. But it's definitely up there.
I mean, to do it here in Laver Cup, win for the first time, how bad Mac wanted it, how bad everybody else wanted it. Seeing what Felix did and Jack, I thought it was just time. It was time to get it done.
You know, I see Stef across the court and I'm, like, I'm licking my lips playing that guy. I want to win. So, yeah, I'm just happy I got over the line. Yeah, like we just like Greek yogurt, so it was good.
Q. Tommy, just curious why is Felix the chosen one?
FRANCES TIAFOE: He really is the one.
CAPTAIN JOHN McENROE: Just look at him.
JACK SOCK: He's a walking ATM.
TOMMY PAUL: There's your answer right there.
Q. What is it about Stefanos that makes you keen when you see him across the net, Frances?
FRANCES TIAFOE: It just makes a bit of sense when I play Stef, so I just like the match, he's a hell of a player, and he's done well for so long. Yeah, I just want to see where my level is at when I play against him.
He's a tough cookie, so it was good to get over the line.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports