Team Europe took back the Laver Cup on Sunday, beating Team World 13-5 at London’s O2 arena with three matches to spare. Alexander Zverev sealed it, beating American Learner Tien 7-6 (3), 6-3 to cap a season in which he has already won the French Open and the US Open.
“Winning as a team — there’s no better feeling in sports,” Zverev said after the clinching win. It was Europe’s sixth title in the competition’s nine editions and the first for captain Yannick Noah, whose side lost to Andre Agassi’s Team World in San Francisco last year.
How the weekend unfolded
The Laver Cup awards one point for each win on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday, and the first team to 13 points wins.
- Friday (Europe 3, World 1): Casper Ruud beat Francisco Cerundolo and Spaniard Rafael Jodar won 6-2, 6-3 against Alexander Bublik on his debut. Brandon Nakashima kept Team World in touch by beating Jakub Mensik, before Carlos Alcaraz and Mensik won the doubles against Bublik and Taylor Fritz.
- Saturday (Europe 7, World 5): Team World hit back. Tien beat Flavio Cobolli and Alex de Minaur ended Zverev’s nine-match Laver Cup singles winning streak. Alcaraz then saved two match points against Fritz and won the deciding match tie-break 13-11, and Zverev and Ruud won the doubles against Bublik and Nakashima.
- Sunday (Europe 13, World 5): Cobolli and Mensik beat de Minaur and Fritz 7-5, 6-3 in the opening doubles to make it 10-5, and Zverev finished the job against Tien. The planned matches between Alcaraz and de Minaur and between Jodar and Fritz were not needed.
Zverev’s year
The German has been part of all six of Europe’s winning teams. His Laver Cup win came a week after he won two Davis Cup matches for Germany, and capped the best season of his career: after years as one of the best men’s players without a Grand Slam title, he won his first two majors in Paris and New York.
The teams
- Team Europe (captain Yannick Noah, vice-captain Tim Henman): Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Flavio Cobolli, Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar.
- Team World (captain Andre Agassi, vice-captain Pat Rafter): Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Alexander Bublik, Learner Tien, Brandon Nakashima, Francisco Cerundolo. Nakashima and Cerundolo came in for Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul.
What the result means
The Laver Cup does not carry ranking points. Europe now leads the overall series 6-3, with wins in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2026; Team World won in 2022, 2023 and 2025. Event founder Roger Federer was among the crowd at the O2.
The 10th Laver Cup will be played at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Los Angeles, from September 24 to 26, 2027.