Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal say they plan to play doubles together when the Laver Cup debuts next year. With a combined 31 major titles, Federer and Nadal have committed to the inaugural event, which is an attempt to create a tennis version of golf's Ryder Cup. Named for Australian tennis great Rod Laver, the competition was first announced in January. A team of European players will face off against a group from the rest of the world Sept. 22-24, 2017, in Prague. Former rivals Bjorn Borg (Europe) and John McEnroe (World team) were announced Wednesday as captains. "You know to be a captain of maybe the two greatest players in the history of tennis here, I think they know what to do or not to do," Swede Borg said about Federer and Nadal. "But maybe you come into the match and maybe something is not working (and) I can help." American McEnroe, who also split his 14 ATP Tour meetings against Borg, said: "I'm proud to be captain and hopefully pull off the big upset over Europe next year." Four automatic spots on each team will be filled through the leading ATP singles rankings following Wimbledon with the captains adding two other captains' picks after the US Open to round out the six-man teams. At present, Europeans hold the top five spots in the rankings and 13 of the top 15 places. "A lot of things can change in a year," added McEnroe, noting the rise of young players coming into their own. Federer said he believes the Laver Cup will resonate from the start. "I think it's going to have a big impact right away just because of the magnitude of Rod Laver being involved," said 17-time Slam winner Federer, currently sidelined following knee surgery. "Having the captains John and Bjorn there is going to create so much attention and so much of a different twist being able to rub shoulders with legends." Four matches will be played each day, three singles and one doubles. Each player will play at least one singles match, and at least four of the six players must play doubles. Match-ups will be determined prior to each day of play by a blind exchange of line-ups by the captains. Each match win will be worth one point Friday, two points Saturday and three points Sunday. The competition, which will be held annually except for during Summer Olympic years, will rotate between major cities in Europe and the rest of the world. Federer plans January return in Australia Roger Federer, who is sidelined for the rest of the year, said Wednesday he plans to return to competition in Australia in January at the Hopman Cup and the Australian Open. The record 17-time Grand Slam singles winner announced last month that he would be missing the Rio Olympics, the US Open and the remainder of the 2016 schedule in order to properly recover after having knee surgery earlier this year. The Swiss world No. 4 said he was taking a positive outlook. "I don't see it as the end of something. I see it as a beginning to something I'm working for, and when I come back to the Hopman Cup and then to the Australian Open ... that's what I'm working for now," said the 35-year-old Federer.
