Carlos Alcaraz keeps Team Europe alive with dominant Laver Cup win | ATP Tour

Laver Cup
Alcaraz keeps Team Europe alive with dominant Laver Cup win

Team World’s lead cut to 12-9 in San Francisco

September 22, 2025

Eakin Howard/Getty Images for Laver Cup

Carlos Alcaraz won the first five game in his must-win Laver Cup matchup against Francisco Cerundolo.
By Arthur Kapetanakis

Carlos Alcaraz has done his job for Team Europe on Sunday at Laver Cup. After beginning the day with a doubles victory, the Spanish superstar delivered once again in a must-win matchup against Francisco Cerundolo to keep his team alive in San Francisco.

Emerging with a blue nasal strip, the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings breathed new life into Team Europe by dominating from the first ball with power and creativity. In a 6-2, 6-1 triumph, Alcaraz won the first five games of both sets in a stress-free outing that belied the stakes. Cerundolo suffered his first Laver Cup loss, falling to 3-1 in the competition.

The victory cut Team World’s lead to 12-9 in the first-to-13 event, with each Sunday match worth three points. Taylor Fritz, who beat Alcaraz on Saturday night, still has a chance to clinch the Laver Cup for the home team with a victory against Alexander Zverev. If Zverev wins to level the score at 12-12, an “overtime” doubles set will decide the champion.

Alex de Minaur earlier moved Team World within one match win of Laver Cup glory by beating Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-4. The Aussie escaped 0/40 in the match’s final game to give his team a 12-6 lead.

“I’m so used to fighting off break points on my serve. I do that for a living,” said a jovial De Minaur, who saved all five break points against him. “I’m not a bot like some of the players in Team World.”

De Minaur has earned seven points for Team World this weekend, beating Zverev and teaming with Alex Michelsen for a doubles win on Saturday, when wins counted for two points.

“It’s a great team event. I do my best every time I step on the court and I’m glad I was able to get a couple of wins for Team World this weekend,” he said.

Alcaraz and Casper Ruud changed the complexion of the event with a much-needed doubles win for Team Europe to open Sunday’s action. After Team World swept Saturday’s play without dropping a set to lead 9-3, Alcaraz and Ruud cut the deficit to 9-6.

The Europeans earned a 7-6(4), 6-1 win against Michelsen and Reilly Opelka, battling back from 1/4 in the first-set tie-break to take control. Alcaraz and Ruud did not face a break point in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats, but they needed 11 break points before finally breaking their opponents early in set two.

“We stayed really strong, really solid. We did what we had to do and I think that it worked pretty well,” Alcaraz said of their patience.

Two points defined the match. At 1/4 in the tie-break, Team World thought they came out on top in a thrilling exchange only to find that Michelsen’s reflex volley sailed just beyond the baseline. That started a run of six straight points to seal the set, followed by a run of five consecutive games in set two.

Midway through the second set, Alcaraz hit the shot of the match: a preposterous drop volley that left Michelsen stranded despite the American standing well inside the service line.

“Sometimes a lot of ideas come to my mind,” Alcaraz said of his shotmaking abilities. “I just enjoy making the choices. I think in that position it was the only shot or the best shot I could choose in that moment.”