Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud beat Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima 6-4 7-6 in the crucial late night doubles rubber to give Team Europe a 7-5 lead after an exhilarating day’s play at London’s o2 Arena where all three singles matches had gone to a champions tie-break.
But the match of the day clearly belonged to Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. In a contest that showcased both brilliance and resilience, it was the Spaniard who came out on top winning 6-3, 4-6, 13-11 in a dramatic tie-break to level the overall contest 5-5.
Watched on by Roger Federer and Andy Murray who were courtside for the evening session, Alcaraz raced out to an early lead with a beautiful rolled backhand lob winner to break first. A sequence of eye-catching winners drawing gasps from the crowd helped him take control of the opening set, with Fritz struggling to contain Alcaraz’s aggression from the baseline.
The American started the match with a 1-5 head-to-head record against the Spanish superstar but interestingly the only victory had come in last year’s Laver Cup event. He responded impressively in the second, tightening up his game, serving with authority and finding greater consistency in the rallies. As Alcaraz’s error count crept up, Fritz seized his opportunity, breaking at a key moment to take the set 6-4.
Both players split the nail-biting tie-break at 6-6 and 9-9 before Alcaraz double faulted to concede a match point – which he saved with a trademark drop shot. He then drew an error to seal the match and raised his arms with delight.
“I feel the drop shot is part of my game,I am trying to use it in my favour,” said Alcaraz. “I think I won a high percentage of drop shots in the match. In those really close and important moments, I tried to use it because it was a really good weapon for me.”
In his post-match interview, he elaborated further: “Two great and tough losses today and obviously I was thinking a little bit about last year when we lost every match on Saturday. Coming into the match, I was trying not to let it happen again. So, I was kind of nervous at the beginning, I’m not going to lie. But really happy that I took the win at the end.”
In the first match of the day featuring long rallies from the baseline, Learner Tien was pushed the distance before beating Flavio Cobolli in a champions tie-break 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 which levelled the overall Team scores at three points all.
Despite losing the second set, Tien managed to reset quickly going into to “lockdown” mode and minimise his errors. From four points all in the tie-break, he was virtually flawless defending his baseline from corner to corner as Cobolli was left searching to find ways to win the point.
“I think in general I can reset pretty well, I think that’s a big strength of mine,” Tien said afterwards on court. “In this format, no matter what the score is, I think everyone still has a chance. The match can just turn on a dime, so I think just being able to put the second set behind me was really big today.”
The win gave Tien – who won the 2025 ATP Next Gen ATP Finals – a win on his debut at the event, following in the footsteps of teammate Brandan Nakashima yesterday who also got his first point on the board for Team World.
“I thought I got off to a good start, and he definitely changed things up a bit in the second, started taking a little more pace off the ball, started not giving me as much to work with, and I was struggling a bit with that,” explained Tien. “But I just thought I recovered well for the third set, and, you know, just kind of a dog fight in the third, but I’m happy to get through it.”
Meanhwhile, Alex de Minaur clawed his way past Alexander Zverev in a thrilling Laver Cup showdown at London’s O2 Arena, winning 2–6, 7–6(5), 11–9 to swing momentum towards Team World at the end of the opening session. The Australian looked out of sorts early, struggling to match Zverev’s weight of shot and falling behind after a one‑sided opening set.
But what followed was a display of grit, athleticism, and sheer refusal to yield – and by the end he was bleeding having thrown himself all around the court, literally ‘leaving It all’ out there.
“I thought that Sascha came out of the blocks firing, and he was hitting the ball at a very high level with a lot of pace from both wings, and I was struggling to kind of find a lot of inroads,” said De Minaur. “I managed to get a little bit more returns in play, change my return position, gave different looks, and slowly kind of crawled my way into the match and then took my opportunities when they presented it.”
Zverev appeared on course for a routine victory when he stepped up to serve for the match at 5–4 in the second set. Instead, two untimely double faults opened the door for De Minaur who pushed through. He broke back, steadied himself, and edged a tense tiebreak to force the decisive champions tie-break.
The finale delivered perfect theatre that the event thrives on, with both players winning points they should not have from the net. First De Minaur dived full-length to win a spectacular rally with a superb drop volley, while Zverev – who had slipped awkwardly at the start of the breaker – reacting brilliantly to control a ball coming directly at him full speed while at the net.
Zverev reached match point first but pushed a forehand wide under pressure and the players swapped ends at nine points all. De Minaur capitalised moments later, drilling a backhand up the line to complete the comeback which thrilled vociferous reactions from the Team World bench who had taken a 5-3 lead overall.
In his post-match media conference, the Australian was asked why he likes playing in team events. “I think these types of events bring always a different energy in me. I just thrive in these types of environments,” he explained. “I look forward to them every single year. The tennis tour is a long year, and whenever you get to play for a little bit more than just yourself, it brings the kind of extra energy. I’ve always played really well representing my country, and I’m glad that I was able to put a good performance today as well.”
