The 2020 Laver Cup will take place in Boston, one of the greatest sports cities in the world, from 25-27 September.

Sports fans worldwide keenly follow several major league sports teams from the Massachusetts’ capital, including the Boston Bruins (ice hockey), Boston Celtics (basketball), Boston Red Sox (baseball) and the New England Patriots (football).

Now tennis will add a new dimension to Boston’s incredible sports reputation with the arrival of the Laver Cup, in its fourth edition and where the best players from Team Europe and Team World fight for victory over the three-day team competition, established to honour past legends of the game.

The last professional tennis tournament held in Boston was in 1999, when Marat Safin defeated Greg Rusedski for the ATP Tour title.

Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg and Team World captain John McEnroe confirmed that they will reprise their roles next year.

“This is a phenomenal sports town and I expect fans will raise the roof for the home side,” McEnroe said. “Laver Cup 2018 was unbelievably close thanks to the enthusiasm of home crowds. Boston is sure to continue that tradition at TD Garden, one of the best venues in the world.”

Home of the NBA’s Celtics and the NHL’s Bruins, TD Garden is New England’s largest sports and entertainment arena and hosts more than 3.5 million people a year at its world-renowned concerts and sporting events.

The Laver Cup was inspired by the career of Australian tennis legend Rod Laver, who won two calendar-year Grand Slams, in 1962 and 1969.

“I’m delighted to see the fourth instalment of the Laver Cup will be in Boston,” said Laver, a long-time resident of Carlsbad in California. “It’s a wonderful city steeped in history, sports and culture. I can’t wait to get back there for the Laver Cup, it’s sure to be another memorable chapter in this event’s remarkable evolution.”

Since Laver Cup’s debut at Prague in 2017, the event has been staged at Chicago in 2018 and Geneva, Switzerland, in 2019, with the host city alternating between Europe and the rest of the world.

Team Europe won its third consecutive Laver Cup on Sunday in Geneva as Alexander Zverev, for the second year in a row, won the event’s final match to catapult the home team to the title 13-11. Zverev beat Team World’s Milos Raonic 6-4, 3-6, 10-4. Each winning team member receives $250,000.

Cristian Garin’s impressive 2019 ATP Tour season continued at the Chengdu Open on Monday, as the Chilean beat Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-2.

The 23-year-old converted four of seven break points against the seventh seed to notch his 26th victory in 43 tour-level matches this year after 72 minutes. Garin is bidding to claim his third ATP Tour crown of the season after clinching clay-court titles in Houston and Munich earlier this year.

The two-time tour-level titlist will face Fernando Verdasco or qualifier Alexei Popyrin for a spot in the quarter-finals. Garin has never met Verdasco or Popyrin at tour-level.

In a meeting of qualifiers, Bradley Klahn outlasted Jason Jung 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) to reach the second round. The World No. 97 will next meet eighth seed Denis Shapovalov or Ricardas Berankis.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas wasted no time booking his place in the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships second round on Monday, beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-1 in 74 minutes.

The 31-year-old Spaniard claimed 81 per cent of first-serve points (22/27) and converted five of eight break points to cruise past Nishioka. Ramos-Vinolas will face one of two Next Gen ATP Finals contenders — Casper Ruud or Miomir Kecmanovic — for a quarter-final spot. The eighth seed owns a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Ruud and is yet to meet Kecmanovic at tour-level.

Cameron Norrie also reached the second round in Zhuhai, beating Peter Gojowczyk 6-1, 6-4. Norrie, who did not face a break point, claimed 87 per cent of first-serve points (26/30) throughout the 67-minute contest.

Norrie will meet third seed Gael Monfils in the second round. The Frenchman defeated Norrie in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter at the 2017 Nature Valley International.

In the final match of the day, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino set up a second-round meeting with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas by beating home favourite Ze Zhang 7-6(6), 7-5. Tsitsipas leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0, a straight-sets win in May at the Mutua Madrid Open.

The ATP Tour heads to China with the Chengdu Open and the inaugural Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships kicking off the three-week ‘Asian Swing’. The ATP 250 tournaments provide players with an opportunity to earn crucial points, with less than two months to go until the Nitto ATP Finals in London and the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

Six Top 30 players headline an impressive draw in Chengdu, led by John Isner and Felix Auger-Aliassime. In Zhuhai, top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of four Top 15 talents in attendance.

Chengdu Talking Points

A new Chengdu Open champion and finalist are guaranteed, as the three prior titlists and three prior runners-up are not in this week’s main draw. Two players who have already claimed ATP Tour singles titles in 2019 — No. 1 seed John Isner and No. 3 seed Benoit Paire — are making their Chengdu debuts.

2017 champion Denis Istomin and defending champion Bernard Tomic did contest the Chengdu Open qualifying this weekend – and they drew each other in the first round. Tomic retired during their match due to a left wrist injury; Istomin advanced to the final round, where he lost to #NextGenATP Australian Alexei Popyrin.

Popyrin is joined in the main draw by two other #NextGenATP stars seeking their first title, both from Canada: 19-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime and 20-year-old Denis Shapovalov. Auger-Aliassime made his first three ATP Tour finals earlier this season, finishing as runner-up each time, while Shapovalov is seeking his first singles final.

Ivan Dodig is back to attempt to defend his Chengdu Open doubles title, pairing with Filip Polasek this year. Dodig and Polasek teamed to win the Western & Southern Open in August, which is the biggest title of Polasek’s career. Polasek returned to the ATP Tour last year after missing nearly five years of action due to injuries.

Zhuhai Talking Points

The Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships features two Top 10 players in its inaugural field: World No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas and World No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut. Both arrive in Zhuhai after a successful Laver Cup campaign in Geneva, where Team Europe lifted its third trophy in as many years (Bautista Agut as an alternate). Former World No. 1 Andy Murray, who has lifted five of his 45 tour-level trophies in China, also features in the draw.

No. 3 seed Gael Monfils has notched 23 hard-court match-wins for the season to date, which is the third-most on the ATP Tour. The Frenchman, who had a career-best 15-3 start to the year, trails only Daniil Medvedev (41) and Roger Federer (25) in hard-court victories in 2019.

Two of the four #NextGenATP players in the field — Casper Ruud and Miomir Kecmanovic — will face each other in the first round. Ruud and Kecmanovic, who are currently No. 6 and No. 7 respectively in the ATP Race To Milan, were doubles partners at Roland Garros and the US Open this year. They upset the No. 3-seeded team of Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus to reach the US Open Round of 16.

One year ago this week, Yoshihito Nishioka won his first ATP Tour title in Shenzhen. The 23-year-old World No. 60 is just two spots off his career-high ATP Ranking, which he achieved in March 2017. Nishioka and Kecmanovic partook in a special painting activity with local children 70 stories above Zhuhai on Sunday, interacting with the community before beginning their runs at this ATP 250 tournament.

No. 8, Matteo Berrettini, +1
The Italian rose one spot to eighth position in the ATP Race To London, just five points ahead of ninth-placed Kei Nishikori (2,180), after reaching the St. Petersburg Open quarter-finals. Prior to the US Open, where he reached the semi-finals, the 23-year-old was in 17th place. He has enjoyed a breakthrough season with two ATP Tour titles at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart (d. Auger-Aliassime) and the Hungarian Open in Budapest (d. Krajinovic).

View Latest ATP Race To London

No. 19, Lucas Pouille, +3
The Frenchman has risen three places to 19th with a run to the Moselle Open semi-finals (l. to Tsonga). It is the 25-year-old’s best result since advancing to his first major championship semi-final at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic) in January.

No. 22, Borna Coric, +4
The Croatian advanced to his sixth ATP Tour final (2-4) at the St. Petersburg Open (l. to Medvedev) to move up four positions to 22nd in the ATP Race To London.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 29 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, +16
No. 51 Filip Krajinovic, +3
No. 61 Joao Sousa, +3
No. 64 Aljaz Bedene, +12
No. 73 John Millman, +11
No. 85 Gregoire Barrere, +8
No. 99 Salvatore Caruso, +6

A LOOK BACK
Murray Trophy (Glasgow, U.K.): Can anyone stop Emil Ruusuvuori? Seriously. That’s a legitimate question. While Daniil Medvedev has been practically unbeatable on the ATP Tour in recent months, Ruusuvuori has been equally as dominant on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The 20-year-old Finn added a third title in four months, lifting the trophy at the inaugural Murray Trophy in Glasgow. The tournament’s namesake, Jamie Murray, was the talk of the town throughout the week, but Ruusuvuori quickly grabbed the headlines at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre. He routed Alexandre Muller 6-3, 6-1 in just 63 minutes in Sunday’s championship.

Ruusuvuori’s rapid rise is awe-inspiring. Since becoming the youngest-ever Challenger champion from Finland, in Fergana in June, he not only reached his first clay-court final in Augsburg, but added two more titles in Mallorca and now in Glasgow. It marks the second straight year in which a player aged 20 & under has completed a title treble, with Ugo Humbert achieving the feat in 2018.

Moreover, Ruusuvuori has lost just three matches since the start of August, posting a 19-3 record in that span. In fact, of those 19 wins, a total of 17 have come in straight sets. His efficient victory over Dominic Thiem in Davis Cup a week ago marked his first over a Top 10 opponent.

“I thought I played a great match,” said Ruusuvuori. “I didn’t start that well, but I was able to raise my level. I got the break in the first set and then I managed to loosen up a little in the second set. It was good.

“It’s not easy to break here. It just shows I’m able to play some pretty great tennis at the moment and do some damage to the other guys. It’s been a great week.”

Ruusuvuori has shown maturity well beyond his age and has a cannon forehand and clutch serve to back it up. He dropped just five games in the third round, three games in the quarter-finals and four games in both the semis and final.

Just three months ago, Ruusuvuori was sitting outside the Top 400. On Monday, he will be up to a career-high No. 142 in the ATP Rankings. The Top 100 is well within reach.

OEC Open (Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei): John Millman would not be denied his 12th Challenger trophy, securing the title at the Challenger 125 event in Kaohsiung. The third seed defeated Marc Polmans 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday.

Millman was mired in a 6-12 slump upon entering the hard courts of the Kaohsiung Arena, but he would snap out of it in a big way. The Aussie dropped one set all week, notching a Challenger title for a third straight season.

Columbus Challenger III (Columbus, Ohio, USA): One week ago, Peter Polansky saw his ATP Ranking drop to No. 200 for the first time since 2016. The Canadian responded with authority, notching his fourth Challenger crown on the indoor hard courts of Columbus.

Polansky defeated J.J. Wolf 6-3, 7-6(4) on Sunday, capping an impressive week on the campus of Ohio State University. He dropped just one set all tournament, rising 33 spots to No. 167 in the ATP Rankings.

Thindown Challenger Biella (Biella, Italy): Gianluca Mager secured a rollercoaster, marathon final on home soil in Biella, defeating countryman Paolo Lorenzi 6-0, 6-7(4), 7-5 on Sunday. Mager’s victory was his third of the year, becoming the sixth player to lift a trio of trophies in 2019.

In addition, Mager joined Andrej Martin in the ’40 Wins Club’ this year, improving to 40-18 on the season. He rises 22 spots in the ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 120.

Sibiu Open (Sibiu, Romania): Danilo Petrovic was a force all week in Sibiu, not dropping a set en route to his second Challenger title. He downed Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-2 to lift the trophy on Sunday.

The Serbian added a clay-court crown to his hard-court victory in Jerusalem in May. He cracks the Top 200 for the first time, rising 65 spots to a career-high No. 194 in the ATP Rankings.

A LOOK AHEAD
One of the most prestigious tournaments in France is in the city of Orleans. This week, the indoor hard-court event celebrates its 15th edition, with defending champion Aljaz Bedene returning as the third seed. Metz titlist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga leads the field, with second seed Ugo Humbert embedded in the ATP Race To Milan.

In Tiburon, California, top seed Tommy Paul looks to add to his recent run, having lifted the trophy in New Haven earlier this month. Sixth seed Michael Mmoh returns as the reigning champion.

A pair of Challenger 80 events are also on the schedule, with the second edition of the Firenze Tennis Cup returning to Florence, Italy. Philipp Kohlschreiber is the top seed. And in Buenos Aires, home hope Federico Delbonis leads the field, with Hugo Dellien seeded second.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the first man to win four titles at the Moselle Open on Sunday, beating Aljaz Bedene 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-3.

The 34-year-old improved to 4-1 in championship matches at the ATP 250 event after two hours and 47 minutes, holding each of his 17 service games and dropping just four first-serve points (49/53) en route to victory. Tsonga becomes the ninth French champion in the past 11 editions of the tournament. Since Gael Monfils’ title run in 2009, David Goffin (2014) and Peter Gojowczyk (2017) are the only non-French players to lift the trophy in Metz.

“Mentally, I was very strong. I served really well when I needed to,” said Tsonga. “The match was not easy at all. Aljaz was playing really well and it was a long match, I am definitely happy to win here again.”

Metz Champions Since 2009

Tsonga has now won 10 of his 18 ATP Tour trophies on home soil. The four-time Metz winner also owns three Marseille crowns (2009, ’13, ’17), alongside individual triumphs at the 2008 Rolex Paris Masters, 2017 Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon and this year’s Open Sud de France. The victory comes one year after Tsonga returned to the ATP Tour in Metz, following a seven-month absence due to left knee surgery.

After a tight opening set, Bedene proved the more solid player in the tie-break. The 30-year-old sprinted into a commanding 4/0 lead, capitalising on a series of Tsonga forehand errors before pressuring the Frenchman with trips into the net to claim the set after 57 minutes.

But Tsonga’s forehand proved to be the crucial factor in the following tie-break, as the Frenchman forced a decider with a series of powerful strikes to level the match. Tsonga carried that attacking mindset into the decider, winning the opening 14 points to charge into a 3-0 lead, before clinching the crown on his first championship point with a crosscourt forehand winner.

“It was a very difficult match. I stayed calm, focussed on doing the basics well and waited for the right moment to change the rallies,” said Tsonga.

Bedene was aiming to capture his maiden tour-level trophy in his fourth championship match. The Slovenian defeated two seeded opponents — Gilles Simon and Benoit Paire — to reach his first final since the Argentina Open last February.

“I only lost serve twice this week, so that is probably the best serving week of my career,” said Bedene. “I had chances today. I had a set, 4-3 and a break point. He served well and I picked the wrong side, but it was close and it could have gone either way. I am disappointed. I wanted to win, but I am also happy with the week.”

Tsonga earns 250 ATP Ranking points and collects €90,390 in prize money. Bedene receives 150 ATP Ranking points and receives €48,870.