Twelve days after playing his first Grand Slam final, Taylor Fritz leads the line for John McEnroe’s Team World as it looks for a third straight Laver Cup win.

Fritz allowed himself a few days “just to relax and be away from tennis a bit” after his maiden major final in which he came off second-best to Jannik Sinner at the US Open, but says he now feels “ready to go.”

“The main thing I take from the whole US Open experience is that I don’t necessarily think I played incredible tennis to get to the final,” the 26-year-old Californian said on the eve of the seventh Laver Cup global team tennis competition

“I’ve had a couple of days’ good practice in Miami. Mike [Russell, his coach] and I talked a bit about the next steps, things I need to work on, and trying to take some positives, even though I was disappointed with the final. I played very within myself, so it was a huge positive that I could get to that point not playing amazing tennis.”

Fritz was the top-ranked American at last year’s Laver Cup in Vancouver, when a rampant Team World sealed the deal in the first rubber of Sunday’s matches. While underdogs to Team Europe in terms of player rankings, the fact that Fritz is now a Grand Slam runner-up as opposed to the quarterfinalist he was last year gives McEnroe’s team added confidence.

Fritz says the Laver Cup is the perfect event to have after his fortnight in New York. “After the US Open it’s natural there’s a bit of a comedown, playing your home Slam,” he said, “so it’s great to come here, with the guarantee you’ll get some matches against some really good players. You’re always going to be fired up, because you’re playing in a team setting.”

Fritz’s involvement on the opening day is limited to the weekend’s first doubles, where he teams with the big-hitting leftie Ben Shelton, who made his Laver Cup debut last year. “We’ve been trying to play together for a while,” Fritz says. “I’ve always thought we’d make a good team, so I think it’s exciting to finally get our first go.”

Fritz and Shelton will face Europe’s scratch but high-quality pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.

McEnroe is happy to play up the fact that this will be his final outing as Team World captain. “Don’t lose for me on my last time!” he joked with his players as they faced the world’s media the day before Friday’s opening matches.

In his seventh Laver Cup campaign, McEnroe again fields a team that is inferior in rankings, but he’s convinced the team spirit in his ranks will make up for the European players’ bigger trophy cabinets. “Every time we’ve played, nine of the top ten have been Europeans, so team spirit has helped carry us to victory and kept us really close. We’ve got a great group, there’s a lot of energy, so we’re pumped up to give it our best shot.”

The absence of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the now retired Roger Federer has clearly given Team World greater confidence, despite the rankings discrepancy. “Tennis is a different show now,” said the US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe, “it’s not the Big Three anymore.”

Friday’s matches – all worth one point, while Saturday’s are worth two and Sunday’s three – will justify the title ‘World’, as the visitors to Berlin field players from four different countries.

Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina plays his second Laver Cup, while Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo makes his debut (the Laver Cup is live in both countries on ESPN International). Another debutant is Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, who’s the only major doubles champion on court this weekend. He plays singles on the opening day, but says just being in Berlin is a bonus. “I’d be happy to peel oranges,” he said.

There’s clearly a meeting of minds and senses of humor between Shelton, Tiafoe and Kokkinakis, with a constant stream of jokes and ribbing between them. That contributes to the team spirit that McEnroe hopes will see his tenure as Captain end with a ‘three-peat’.