Laver Cup 2021 - 'It's a team huddle!' - Team Europe take coaching to next level with Alexander Zverev

ByDan Quarrell

Published 25/09/2021 at 21:22 GMT

Leading 7-6 and 5-4 in the second singles rubber of the night, Zverev suddenly found himself surrounded by vocal team-mates at his courtside bench. "Look at this!" said Chris Bradnam, on commentary for Eurosport at the time. "It's a team huddle! Where's Bjorn gone?" he added, noting how Team Europe's captain suddenly didn't have a job to do. "I'm Bjorn Borg and I don't have to do very much!"

Olympic champion Alexander Zverev was not short of advice during his Laver Cup clash against John Isner as Team Europe took team-mate coaching to the next level.

Players wading in with words of wisdom for each other has been a common theme at the team event through its previous editions, but never quite to the extent that Zverev's team took it to on Saturday evening.

Leading 7-6 and 5-4 in the second singles rubber of the night, Zverev suddenly found himself surrounded by vocal team-mates at his courtside bench.

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"Look at this!" said Chris Bradnam, on commentary for Eurosport at the time. "It's a team huddle!

"Where's Bjorn gone?" he added, noting how Team Europe's captain suddenly didn't have a job to do. "I'm Bjorn Borg and I don't have to do very much!"

• 'I don't think his hands are that good' - Zverev coaches Ruud mid-match
• 'Why did Isner stop?!' - Disbelief as Zverev wins truly bizarre point

The day before, it was Zverev himself who was giving some mid-match coaching to his Team Europe team-mate Casper Ruud as he faced Reilly Opelka - the opening rubber of this year's event.

'I don't think his hands are that good' - Zverev coaches Ruud mid-match

Whilst the Norwegian had the benefit of having Borg by his side on the courtside bench throughout, he was also given some advice by Zverev midway through the second set.

With Ruud holding a 4-3 lead with serve, having taken the opening set fairly comfortably, the German told his team-mate to not be phased by Opelka coming to the net.

"If he goes to the net, it doesn't matter," Zverev said, with his coaching picked up by the nearby microphones.

Let him get a normal volley, because I don't think his hands are that good where he can push a lot.

"He wants to finish it straight away, you know what I mean?"

• 'It's special, awesome to see' - Laver and Federer get standing ovations at Laver Cup
• Laver Cup: Best moments so far - featuring Federer, Nadal and Kyrgios

Coaching moments between players who are rivals outside of the team event have become a memorable feature of the Laver Cup over the years.

In 2019, there was a classic moment when Rafael Nadal provided fellow legend Roger Federer with some words of advice during one of his matches.

‘Keep the points under five shots!’ - The time Nadal coached Federer at Laver Cup

Equally, there was the time when both Federer and Nadal gave Stefanos Tsitsipas some coaching during a changeover.

'Don't be scared!' - Federer coaches Tsitsipas at Laver Cup 2019

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You can watch the Laver Cup live on Eurosport 1, eurosport.co.uk and via the Eurosport app. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now to get yourself all set for the action from Boston.

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