Laver Cup
Team Europe celebrate with the Laver Cup following their win Getty

Tennis legend John McEnroe believes the ATP made a mistake by not recognising the Laver Cup.

The inaugural exhibition event, played in honour of the legendary Rod Laver, took place from 22 to 24 September as McEnroe captained Team World while Björn Borg captained Team Europe.

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With the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both featuring in Prague, the event received a great reception as many tuned in to watch the world's top two ranked players team up in doubles action for the first time ever.

Other than that, the Ryder Cup-style event also allowed fans to witness the world's best players and prospects such as Nick Kyrgios, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov and more in action against each other as Team Europe eventually emerged as the winners.

McEnroe is now hoping the success of the first Laver Cup, which is set to return in 2018 in Chicago, will help the ATP realise its importance and lead to more team-based events.

"I hope they take a step back and realise that this is something important and could be really good for tennis," McEnroe said, as quoted by the Daily Mail. "I think it's going to spark something. To me they should take a look at putting these things together."

"I think the ATP made a mistake not realising that this was going to be big. I tried to tell them. The way it panned out was amazing, I wish I could've played."

One of the major criticisms of the event was that it was an exhibition and that the players would not be up for it. However, Kyrgios, whose loss to Federer cemented Team Europe's victory, was in tears following his defeat.

Adding to this, Nadal, who was waking up early to practice as revealed by Federer, claimed the players were all taking the competition seriously.

"Ultimately the credibility of the Laver Cup will depend on all the highest qualified players make themselves available, which would not have happened this year regardless of injuries," McEnroe added.

Roger Federer Rafael Nadal