'F**k this guy': John McEnroe's fury over Alexander Zverev sledge
John McEnroe didn't take too kindly to being sledged by Alexander Zverev as Team Europe recording a resounding victory at the Laver Cup.
Even without Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic on their roster, Team Europe clinched their fourth consecutive Laver Cup victory by powering to a 14-1 win over Team World.
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It meant the Bjorn Borg-captained Europe have maintained their unbeaten record in the competition against the McEnroe-led team, featuring Australian regular Nick Kyrgios.
Leading 11-1 overnight in the Ryder Cup-style event, Europe needed just one win from the four matches scheduled on Sunday to make it four straight titles.
And the doubles pairing of Zverev and Andrey Rublev obliged with a 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 10-3 win against American Reilly Opelka and Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
As it turns out, a sledge from Zverev to McEnroe earlier in the weekend proved to be true.
After Team Europe earned their first victory on Friday, the German told the American great they wouldn't win another point.
McEnroe wasn't too please with Zverev's comment, telling his players during a huddle: “F*** this guy ... He said that’s the last point we’re going to win.”
John Isner replied: "F*** him", while Reilly Opelka commented: "He also says he's innocent".
Opelka appeared to be making reference to domestic violence allegations against Zverev from his ex-girlfriend, claims that Zverev has vehemently denied.
Team Europe win fourth-consecutive Laver Cup
The previous three editions of the Laver Cup had gone down to the wire, despite the disparity in rankings between the two sides.
But this time Europe triumphed with room to spare as the great Rod Laver presented the trophy to Borg.
"At the end of the day, the score says that it was 14-1, but it could have gone both ways a lot of the time," Zverev said in an on-court interview.
"We (did) a lot of hard work for this victory throughout the whole week. The group of this team has been absolutely amazing.
"I think a lot of us came a lot closer together and to be honest I can't wait for London next year."
There were still three singles matches remaining, but Team Europe had already eclipsed the 13 points needed to win the Cup.
Match victories were worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday.
Team Europe won eight of the first nine matches in the three-day event, which was postponed in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Team Europe won the first three Laver Cups, too, in 2017, 2018 and 2019, each time with Federer and either Nadal or Djokovic participating.
Zverev and Rublev were joined on Team Europe this time by US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud. All six are ranked in the top 10.
Team World featured Felix Auger-Aliassime, Diego Schwartzman, John Isner and Kyrgios.
with AAP
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