{"id":782568,"date":"2026-09-25T21:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T21:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/782568\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T21:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T21:32:08","slug":"team-europe-seeks-payback-team-world-eyes-repeat-at-the-o2-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/782568\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Europe Seeks Payback; Team World Eyes Repeat at The O2 | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cbuy-in\u201d. It\u2019s a catchphrase that surfaces and resurfaces when it comes to all things Laver Cup.<\/p>\n

Patrick Rafter, the two-time US Open champion and former world No. 1, says it made all the difference last year in San Francisco, when as a first-year vice-captain he helped guide a supposedly overmatched Team World to its third title in four years. It was the buy-in from both rookie captain Andre Agassi and his players, he insists, that carried them to a 15-9 comeback victory against Team Europe.<\/p>\n

That buy-in apparently lasts all year long.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the last six or eight months, Andre and I talk. He calls me all the time, \u2018What\u2019s going on? Who\u2019s on the team?\u2019 That\u2019s how passionate he is about it,\u201d Rafter said. \u201cWhen we get to the last couple of weeks, it can get explosive at times. Our conversations get really full-on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it shows is how much this guy puts into it consistently throughout the year. You think this is a one week event, but it\u2019s not. In his head, it\u2019s going all the time. It doesn\u2019t have to be a big thing for Andre, but it is, and I just love the whole passion of it. Then these guys all come in and they play and they buy in. And that\u2019s why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TeamTeam World captain Andre Agassi with one of his key team members, Alex de Minaur, who is undefeated in Laver Cup singles.
\nAgassi\u2019s Defense<\/p>\n

Agassi and Rafter\u2019s 2026 roster, headed by veterans Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur and Francisco Cerundolo, and bolstered by Laver Cup newcomers Alexander Bublik, Learner Tien and Brandon Nakashima, will begin its title defense on Friday at The O2 in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first few days, we sit back and watch. Now it\u2019s time to start pulling the trigger.\u201d \u2014 Team World Vice-Captain Patrick Rafter<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll need that buy-in on enemy turf, with Yannick Noah and Team Europe counting on the home-court advantage.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rafael Jodar will play his first match representing Team Europe on Friday night against Alexander Bublik.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have great champions on this team who all know what it takes to win,\u201d said Alexander Zverev, fresh off his second major singles title of the year at the US Open. \u201cPersonally, it was quite a satisfying year, but we\u2019re here at the Laver Cup as a team. For us, the main goal is to lift the Laver Cup trophy and to bring it back to Europe. We do it as a team, we do it as a group of players. Hopefully, we can achieve that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main goal is to lift the Laver Cup trophy and to bring it back to Europe. We do it as a team.\u201d \u2014 Alexander Zverev<\/p>\n

Zverev has been part of this global competition from the very start, dating back to when the event was launched in Prague in 2017. He is joined by Carlos Alcaraz, Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Jodar, Jakub Mensik and Casper Ruud. The seven major singles titlist Alcaraz is the de facto team leader, though the Spaniard insists it\u2019s a collective effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor every team, there has to be a leader, but on this team, there is no leader,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cEverybody is one of the best players in the world, so everybody comes in the same way. We\u2019re trying to help each other the best way we can. So I don\u2019t see myself as a leader. I\u2019m just trying to do my best, trying to help these guys, help the team as best as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noah\u2019s Way<\/p>\n

Noah\u2019s coaching style is a contrast to that of his counterpart. While Agassi flashes an on-court freneticism during both practice sessions and match play, Noah likens his role to that of courtside comforter (and occasional snack provider).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is very easy,\u201d said Noah, the 1983 Roland-Garros champion. \u201cBasically, I\u2019m sitting in probably the best seat of the whole stadium, looking at champions playing. Sometimes they come to me. I believe that if I make them feel comfortable, slightly happy, they will play well, because they don\u2019t need me to play well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they put pressure on me, because sometimes they need bananas and I don\u2019t have some,\u201d he added with a laugh. \u201cBut I\u2019m very happy and grateful to be here with them. As I told them last night, I\u2019m very happy to be part of this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noah will once again look to Ruud to get things started on Day 1. The three-time Grand Slam finalist will take on Cerundolo in a rematch of their Laver Cup 2024 opener in Berlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cYannick particularly wanted me to start maybe because of the experience,\u201d Ruud said. \u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m ready to hopefully get a good start for Team Europe.\u2019 I have done that I think four times before in the Laver Cup weekend. It\u2019s nothing new to me. I\u2019ll be ready. Hopefully, we bring on a good match and get Europe off to the best start possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For their part, Rafter and Agassi will continue to nurture that buy-in that led to the Laver Cup title in their first attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first few days, we sit back and watch. Now it\u2019s time to start pulling the trigger,\u201d Rafter said. \u201cThis is when Andre\u2019s energy on the court is amazing. It\u2019s unmatched anywhere. The balance is with me trying to bring a little bit of calmness every now and then when we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cbuy-in\u201d. It\u2019s a catchphrase that surfaces and resurfaces when it comes to all things Laver Cup. Patrick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[7570,10371,870,22635,189295,101,118,56,54,55,66210],"class_list":["post-782568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-andre-agassi","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-casper-ruud","tag-patrick-rafter","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-yannick-noah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}