Zverev Clinches Sixth Laver Cup for Europe

Team Europe won the Laver Cup, the annual three-day men's team event that pits six European players against six from the rest of the world, 13⁠–⁠5 over Team World on Sunday, 27 September, at The O2 in London (Laver Cup; BBC Sport; Field Level Media). Europe carried a 7⁠–⁠5 lead into Day 3 after Saturday at The O2. Sunday's matches were worth three points each, and the first team to 13 points wins the trophy (Laver Cup). Friday's matches had been worth one point each and Saturday's two, so with four matches left on Sunday, Europe needed two wins (Laver Cup scores and results; The Guardian).

It took them the first two. Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik opened the day by beating Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz 7⁠–⁠5, 6⁠–⁠3 in doubles, lifting Europe to 10⁠–⁠5 (Laver Cup; The Guardian; Field Level Media). The Laver Cup called Cobolli and Mensik a new pairing; the official scoreboard timed their win at 1 hour 37 minutes (Laver Cup).

Alexander Zverev then clinched the title, beating American Learner Tien 7⁠–⁠6(3), 6⁠–⁠3 (winning the first-set tiebreak 7⁠–⁠3) in 1 hour 49 minutes to make it 13⁠–⁠5 (Laver Cup; BBC Sport). A tiebreak is the shootout played when a set reaches six games each; the first player to seven points, leading by two, takes the set. Tien, a 20-year-old left-hander from California making his Team World debut, pushed Zverev hard in the first set. Serving at 5⁠–⁠5 and 0⁠–⁠40, he saved three straight break points, the chances a returner gets to win the other player's service game, to force that tiebreak (Laver Cup; BBC Sport). Zverev pulled away in it, then broke Tien's serve for a 4⁠–⁠2 lead in the second set on his sixth break point of the match. He saved three break points in the next game and served out the win two games later (Laver Cup).

The remaining singles, which would have featured Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Jodar, were not needed (Laver Cup). "We had three chances to close it out in singles," Zverev said. "Especially with Carlos playing after me, it gave me a little bit of confidence" (Laver Cup).

It is Europe's sixth Laver Cup title and the first under second-year captain Yannick Noah, after Team World won in San Francisco in 2025 (Laver Cup; BBC Sport). Team World's captain, Andre Agassi, closed his second term by teasing Zverev during the trophy ceremony. "It was important to me because I could start listening to your press conferences again," Agassi said (The Guardian).

Zverev, the reigning French Open (Roland Garros) and US Open champion, bounced back from a three-set loss to Australia's Alex de Minaur on Saturday, decided by a first-to-10-point tiebreak that de Minaur won 11⁠–⁠9; he has been part of all six of Europe's wins and has the most Laver Cup singles victories with eight (Laver Cup; BBC Sport). The Laver Cup settles every match that reaches one set each with that longer tiebreak instead of a full third set, and it must also be won by two points, which is how scores such as 11⁠–⁠9 appear (Laver Cup scores and results). The Guardian reported that Zverev had reached match point in that loss before de Minaur came back (The Guardian).

This was Zverev's seventh Laver Cup appearance and the fourth time he has won the deciding match, after Chicago in 2018, Geneva in 2019 and Boston in 2021 (Laver Cup). He is the event's all-time leading scorer with 26 points, and the 29-year-old world No. 2 leads the men's tour with 56 match wins this season (Laver Cup). "I haven't won a Laver Cup match in two years, so I'm happy I did it today," Zverev said. "Winning as a team, there's no better feeling in sports" (BBC Sport; Laver Cup). He added: "Massive credit to the entire Team World. They pushed us all the way again. They were champions last year" (Laver Cup).

Saturday had kept the contest close. Europe led 3⁠–⁠1 after Friday, but Tien beat Cobolli 6⁠–⁠3, 2⁠–⁠6, 10⁠–⁠7 and de Minaur beat Zverev 2⁠–⁠6, 7⁠–⁠6(5), 11⁠–⁠9, each worth two points, to put Team World ahead 5⁠–⁠3 (Laver Cup scores and results). Alcaraz then beat Fritz 6⁠–⁠3, 4⁠–⁠6, 13⁠–⁠11, saving two match points in the deciding tiebreak, the second of them at 10⁠–⁠11 (Laver Cup scores and results; The Guardian). Casper Ruud and Zverev closed the night with a 6⁠–⁠4, 7⁠–⁠6(7) doubles win over Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima for the 7⁠–⁠5 lead Europe took into Sunday (Laver Cup scores and results).