From the start, the 2025 Laver Cup looked very different. Since 2017, the birth of the yearly event, Team World and Team Europe have had just one coach respectively. For Europe, Bjorn Borg was at the helm. For the World, John McEnroe. Both men are tennis legends. Both men are out for '25.
McEnroe and Borg's exit from their coaching duties was never a knock on their past responsibilities. Bjorg, of course, coached Europe to five championships. Instead, it's simply a passing of the torch to new faces and voices — that's where Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah draw into the fold.
If there was one thing Agassi and Noah had in common during their playing days, it was the hair. For the Frenchman, it was the highflying dreads. For Agassi, it was — well, the infamous mullet.
Oh, both men also won the French Open, but the hairstyles certainly stole their lengthy moments of fame. Today, while both former champions have turned to coaching, it's Agassi who appears to have received a new lease on life.
Andre Agassi taking in his first coaching experience with eyes wide open
One element of Agassi's first sniff at coaching is his animation from the sideline that has driven Team World to the brink of a Laver Cup championship. He's been vocal, and the energy emanating from his competitive side has been evident.
Agassi's coaching opposition in Noah resembles a much calmer and laid-back demeanor, which is quite the opposite of what emanates from Agassi. But as the former multi-Grand Slam champion admitted recently, he now has a newly formed channel, as he put it, to unleash his competitiveness at more than just one person.
Unlike his playing days, where he was just one of two figures on the court, as a coach, he has a handful of targets he can express himself to: his players. In an interview with Tennis Channel during the tournament, he referred to his players as "Ferraris" and "machines." Ferraris and machines they are, there's no doubt about it.
Taylor Fritz's latest victory over Carlos Alcaraz was all "machine." Fritz has been unable to defeat Alcaraz in their head-to-head tour matchups save for one occasion. Getting the win over the dominating Spaniard was a shock to the system and had Fritz fired up in the end.
This is precisely the type of engine Agassi has brought to Team World, and it's not sputtering; it's firing on all cylinders. A Laver Cup win for Agassi would mark Team World's third since the event started. The Europeans have generally dominated the tournament in the past seven years.
Of course, most of their squads included three of the greatest players of all time: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. You can't blame Team World for their lack of success.
We may be on the verge of a turning of the tide, given that Team World has all but solidified its championship this year, and Agassi has emerged as a key factor and is likely to return in the future. It's a joy to watch Agassi in this new role. It also begs the question: Is there a deeper coaching path in his future, perhaps on tour?