• Chronicle: Europe's tightest victory
  • Nadal: the statistical sneak that saved Federer

On Sunday, an hour before his long-awaited doubles match with Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal's statement left the almost 18,000 spectators who were present at the Palexpo in Geneva the last day of the Laver Cup. disappointed of not being able to play, but I have something inflamed my hand and I need rest, "revealed the 'number two' of the ATP. This injury, however, did not seem to surprise Team Europe , which had already called Dominic Thiem to play the subsequent game of singles scheduled on the Spanish agenda.

"I have always been very strict by the rules. So I did not like anything to see how the first one who trained on Sunday was Thiem, when in theory Rafa was going to play," said John McEnroe, captain of Team World , who was assisted all weekend for his brother Patrick.

Curiously, once the victory of John Isner and Jack Sock over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Federer was completed, Nick Kyrgios's absence, also due to injury, was known. His loss would be covered by Taylor Fritz, who was surprised to defeat Dominic Thiem, with which he placed an almost definitive 7-11 for visitors.

However, McEnroe claimed that Rafa's last-minute absence had "limited the options" of his team, since in principle he wanted to align Denis Shapovalov instead of Fritz. "We are supposed to do things well on the last day, but the opposite is happening. It is a pity. Besides, it comes from someone who has never transgressed the rules, although it seems that now he does want to twist them a little," the New Yorker slipped, without citing more names.

"I think you have to reflect on the rules of substitutions," concluded the left-hander, winner of seven Grand Slam titles. In the other corner, European captains chose to temper the mood after the final 13-11 in their favor. "Why would we want to mislead and not play Rafa? He is in an incredible moment. I do not think that we have to consider changes," said Thomas Enqvist, Bjorn Borg's assistant in technical tasks.

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