Team Europe took three of the four matches on Sunday to overcome Team World for the Laver Cup trophy. Carlos Alcaraz won in doubles and provided the clincher in singles as the Europeans came back from the brink of defeat at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany.
After splitting Sunday’s first two rubbers, the visitors need to win just one of the last two singles matches. They found themselves two games from the finish line when Frances Tiafoe led Alexander Zverev 6-4, 4-2. However, the German recovered to prevail 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-5.
That set the stage for Alcaraz to finish the job. The third-ranked Spaniard improved to 2-0 in singles and 3-1 overall for the week by beating Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5 in the finale. Alcaraz gave back a break midway through the second set but was otherwise in control from start to finish.
“It’s great,” Alcaraz assured. “Obviously we came here with a goal, to win the Laver Cup. We are very, very happy about reaching our goal. We almost lost, but Sascha came with really good tennis and gave me the chance to win.
“It’s always tough to play Team World at (the) Laver Cup,” European captain Bjorn Borg concluded. “You’ve seen good tennis this week and I thought that we weren’t going to win it, but the guys played great tennis and we came through. For me to spend time with these players in Team Europe, it’s a lot of fun. We have a good team spirit and we gave everything. I’m very proud of my team.”
It was the final year for captains Borg and John McEnroe. They will be replaced by Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi, respectively, starting next September in San Francisco.
a competitive Laver Cup