San Francisco (United States) (AFP) – World number one Carlos Alcaraz returns to the court in the wake of his US Open triumph on Friday when he headlines a Team Europe side aiming to retain the Laver Cup title against Team World. This year’s edition of the global tennis showdown will see some changes at Chase Arena, home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
France’s Yannick Noah takes over from Bjorn Borg as captain of Team Europe while American Andre Agassi is the new captain of Team World, succeeding John McEnroe. Europe are defending the title they won last year in Berlin. They have won five of the first seven editions, although Team World triumphed the last time the competition co-created by Swiss great Roger Federer was held in North America, in Vancouver in 2023.
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Europe won’t have world number two Jannik Sinner or fourth-ranked superstar Novak Djokovic. But Noah captains a strong lineup that also features world number three Alexander Zverev of Germany, Denmark’s Holger Rune, Norway’s Casper Ruud, Czech Jakub Mensik, and Italian Flavio Cobolli. Miami Masters champion Mensik is riding high after helping the Czech Republic defeat the United States to book a spot in the Davis Cup finals.
Alcaraz arrived in San Francisco on Monday, showing off his newly colored platinum hair, with which he celebrated his September 7 victory over Sinner in the US Open final. Team World has been hit by the withdrawals of Americans Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe. But they have two top-10 players in American Taylor Fritz and Aussie Alex de Minaur, along with rising talents Alex Michelsen and Joao Fonseca, as well as Francisco Cerundolo and American Reilly Opelka.
At 19, Brazil’s Fonseca will be the youngest player ever to compete in the Laver Cup. Fonseca admitted he was star-struck when he was able to meet his idol Federer for the first time this week. But he’ll be down to business on Friday as he opens the night session against Cobolli. Competition will kick off with Ruud taking on Opelka, with Ruud holding a 4-0 record against the big-serving American.
“Hopefully, I can lead Team Europe to a good start, give us some good momentum,” said Ruud, who captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Madrid this year. “I know how tough it is to play him, especially with his serve. There’s a different rhythm.” Mensik will take on Michelsen in the second of three singles matches on Friday, and Alcaraz will make his bow in the evening’s closing doubles alongside Mensik against Fritz and Michelsen.
Friday’s matches are worth one point apiece. Saturday’s schedule also features three singles and one doubles match, all worth two points apiece. Sunday’s schedule opens with doubles, followed by three singles as required — all worth three points. The first team to reach 13 points claims the cup.
© 2024 AFP
