Gallery: Black courts + Tokyo time

Why haven’t more tennis matches been played on black courts? That’s the inevitable question that will be asked after pictures emerged of players practising ahead of the inaugural Laver Cup. After touching down in Prague on Monday, Roger Federer got to grips with the surface, as did Tomas Berdych, as Team Europe assembled. Meanwhile, over in Tokyo the big names started to get into the swing of things. These are the best photos of the day.

: Roger Federer gets to grips with the black court. Photo: Getty Images

: Federer has spearheaded the evolution of the Laver Cup. Photo: Getty Images

: Home hero Tomas Berdych will have the Czech fans cheering him on in Prague. Photo: Getty Images

: Rod Laver has been busy as he prepares to welcome the players to his inaugural event. Photo: Getty Images

: After taking a few weeks off, Federer has been practicing plenty ahead of the competition. Photo: Getty Images

: Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg chats to the media as he prepares to welcome the other members of the team. Photo: Getty Images

: Federer talked about the need to build ‘team spirit’ ahead of the inaugural competition. Photo: Getty Images

: Dominika Cibulkova was a 6-3 6-3 winner over Carla Suarez Navarro. Photo: Getty Images

: Barbora Strycova was a 7-6(4) 7-6(2) winner over Rybarikova in Tokyo. Photo: Getty Images

: It’s hard to tell what this was all about, but Alicija Rosolska and Makato Nominiya did it. Photo: Getty Images