"It's so wonderful for these young players to be able to play in front of 18,000 people, a lot of them actually haven’t done that" - Tony godsick on how Roger Federer gave him the idea for the Laver Cup

Ahead of the Laver Cup's fifth edition, the co-creators of the tournament came together to reflect on the iconic tournament. Tony Godsick, Roger Federer's long-term agent and the tournament's chairman, along with Steve Zacks, chief executive, spoke to SportsPro to discuss its history and scope of development.

Speaking about the inception of the tournament, Zacks revealed Federer to be the mastermind behind it as a mark of respect for the legendary Rod Laver. He also added how Federer wanted the event to be "real tennis" and not just a show.

"“It started off not as a business, it started off as a very heartfelt goal of Roger, with Tony, to do something to honour Rod Laver. As we built this, we looked at how we could innovate, and how we could make it unrivalled. But we also made sure that it was, you could say, real tennis – that was a very important thing, in particular, to Roger, who took part in the design of the event.”

Team Europe hits the practice court with a special trio: Roger, Stefanos and Bjorn.

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Zacks also shed some light on getting certification from ATP, describing it as an important milestone and elaborated on how it's a mutually beneficial relationship for the two parties.

"Obviously, it was our goal from the onset to have the support of all the tennis ecosystem, and definitely the ATP,” he added. “After the first couple of Laver Cups, after we had proven ourselves, we saw the response from every aspect of the community. We were able to achieve that certification with the ATP, and that’s been an important milestone for us."

“We’re included in their marketing and their scoring systems, they provide officials, so it’s a very collaborative and mutually supportive relationship

Godsick also spoke about a conversation with Federer about how young players could soak in a massive stadium with an audience of 18,000 people.

"We really pumped them up because they’re around these big stars and around the McEnroes and Borgs, and then, after the three days, they go back out on tour with maybe a bigger profile,” said Godsick..

“One of the things that Roger said many times to me is it’s so wonderful for these young players to be able to play in front of 18,000 people, because a lot of them actually haven’t done that.”

"Federer is obviously playing for a long time; we were able to take from other events what really works" - Godsick on choosing the best format for Laver Cup

In the same interview, Tony Godsick spoke about his about how the tournament was formulated

Team World hits their stride on the practice court.

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“I’ve been in the business over 30 years, Roger is obviously playing for a long time. We’ve had the incredible opportunity to go to so many different events around the world – Grand Slams and Masters 1000s, combined events, special events, team events – and we were able to take from other events what really works," Godsick said.

Godsick emphasized another crucial aspect of the tournament, which is to appeal to younger generations of fans in the sport as well, highlighting that some numbers suggest that the average age of a tennis fan is 61.

“We have an older demographic in the sport – and that’s a problem. I’ve seen numbers that say that the average tennis fan might be 61 years old. That’s not sustainable for the sport in terms of a viable business if we don’t try to attract the next generation,” he said.

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