In only it's second year of existence The Ryder Cup of Tennis is back in September where Chicago tennis fans will get to see some of the biggest stars fight it out. Europe will be looking to defend the 'Laver Cup' (named after the Australian tennis legend and one of the greatest players in history - Rod Laver) against the rest of the World. Last year Team Europe beat Team World 15 matches to 9.

In 2017 fans were lucky enough to see the two best players in the world - Federer and Nadal team up in a doubles match against Jack Sock and Sam Querrey which they won 2 sets to 1. Everything wasn't so plain sailing for the two legends of today though. Nadal did not have the best of singles matches last year, he lost to Isner in two straight sets and almost lost to Sock squeezing through in a third set tie break 11-9.

It also took Federer a tight third set tie break (11-9) to down Kyrgios. I am sure fans this year will be hoping for many more dramatic matches and a few surprise upsets to produce a competitive competition between Europe and the World.

Big Names Stack the Odds Heavily in Favour of Europe Again

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have already been announced in Team Europe's lineup where as John Isner, Nick Kyrgios and Juan Martin Del Portro are three of the six representing Team World. With the likes of Djokovic (this years Wimbledon champion) and Federer (this years Australian Open Champion) on Europe's side they will be the clear favourites to retain the title and it will take one hell of an effort for Team World to even come close to winning the cup.

Having said that recently Del Potro has had several big wins against Federer on hard courts. He beat him this year at Indian Wells 2 sets to 1 and last year he knocked him out in convincing style of the US Open Quarter Finals 3 sets to 1. So if he faces Federer in Chicago there's another chance of an upset. The same can be said for Kygrios facing Djokovic, he is 2-0 against the Wimbledon champion so far in their head to head matches.

Video Highlights: 2017 Saw Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer Pair Up for Team Europe...

The Rules of the Cup

The cup is played over three days with each day comprising of 3 singles matches and 1 doubles match.

Each team contains 6 players, 4 of which are chosen in order of ATP rankings and 2 which are chosen as wild card picks by the teams respective captains (John Mcenroe and Björn Borg).

Each match is best of 3 sets but the third set always goes to a 10 point tie breaker to make the matches more exciting than conventional tournaments. 

Each team is prevented from over using their best players with the rule that one player can only play 2 singles matches over the three days maximum.

The winning team is the first to 13 match wins.

Building from a Successful First Year

The first Laver Cup was held in Prague last year with a 18,000 sell-out crowd watching each day as Federer and Nadal took on the rest of the world. The event was such a success that organisers have now committed to holding it every year from 2020 onwards. What makes this event unique to all other tennis tournaments is the fact that big name rivals can come together on one team to compete against the equivalent on the other. No other tournament on the world stage of tennis currently offers this chance. 

Lets hope that the competition this year provides the big time entertainment we saw in Prague back in 2017. I'd love to see Federer and Djokovic take on Del Potro and Isner at doubles. That one be a very tough test given the serving power behind the world two giants.