John McEnroe, Ben Shelton maintain secrecy about 'funny' stories that came out at Laver Cup dinner with Team World
John McEnroe and Ben Shelton humorously declined to spill the beans from Team World's dinner ahead of the 2024 Laver Cup. This came after they were told that Team Europe had shared their stories with the journalists.
During a press conference ahead of the tournament, Shelton was informed that Team Europe had 'funny' stories to tell from their dinner the previous night. A journalist urged the 21-year-old American to recount a few tales from Team World's dinner, saying:
"Team Europe, when they came in, talked about their dinner last night and how important it was and the stories that were told. There was one particularly funny one. I'm wondering, with you guys, when you had your team dinner last night, Ben, was there anything that was particularly funny that came out of that dinner?"
Ben Shelton joked that he couldn't remember anything.
"No comment. I don't recall," Shelton laughed and said. "No, I think that the team dinners have been a really cool thing that I have been a part of the last two years. We have a lot of characters on this team. You know, added Thanasi this year, it's gotten out of control."
"But yeah, I can't remember any specific stories right now that we talked about. I know last night Johnny Mac dropped a few gems," Shelton added.
He was cut off by his captain John McEnroe who said:
"We cannot reveal these stories."
Shelton will join Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Francisco Cerundolo, Alejandro Tabilo, and Thanasi Kokkinakis to represent Team World at the 2024 Laver Cup, with McEnroe captaining them.
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, and Stefanos Tsitsipas will don Team Europe's blue shirts, captained by Sweden tennis legend Bjorn Borg. The tournament will be played from September 20-22.
"Don't lose for me on my last one, okay?" - John McEnroe jokingly threatens Ben Shelton & other Team World members ahead of Laver Cup 2024
John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg have captained Team World and Team Europe, respectively, since the Laver Cup started in 2017. The 2024 edition of the Roger Federer-back event will be the final time these legends lead the teams.
From 2025 onwards, McEnroe will be replaced by Andre Agassi while Yannick Noah will come in for Borg. Team World has won the last two editions and McEnroe hopes his players will send him off on a happy note.
"There is a lot of energy in that building right now, and it's going to be even more over the weekend. We're pumped up to give it our best shot. If they lose -- don't lose for me on my last one, okay? That's all I'm saying," John McEnroe said, pounding his table in mock anger during the press conference.
The action-packed first day of the event will see three singles encounters — Casper Ruud vs. Francisco Cerundolo, Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis, and Grigor Dimitrov vs. Alejandro Tabilo. In the only doubles match of the day, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz will take on Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.