Carlos Alcaraz leads Team Europe to Laver Cup 2024 title, beats Taylor Fritz in deciding rubber to prevent Team World's three-peat
Carlos Alcaraz led Team Europe to their fifth title at the Laver Cup, defeating Taylor Fritz in the final rubber of the 2024 edition on Sunday. With the win, he also stopped two-time defending champions Team World from completing a three-peat at the tournament.
Alcaraz, the highest-ranked player from Europe in the team, took the opening set against the American 6-2 with an exhilarating display of tennis. In the second, Fritz appeared better prepared to deal with the hard-hitting Spaniard. After going down an early break to fall 3-1 behind, he levelled things at 5-5.
However, the 2024 US Open finalist got his serve broken in the next game, allowing Carlos Alcaraz the chance to serve for the championship title. The 21-year-old made no mistake, serving it out to hand Europe the title after a two-year wait.
It was Alcaraz's second win of the day as well, having previously partnered Casper Ruud to down the all-American duo of Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. In the first singles fixture of the day, Shelton returned to the court to beat Daniil Medvedev, prevailing over the former US Open champion 6-7(6), 7-5, 10-7. Then, Alexander Zverev beat Tiafoe 7-6 (5), 7-5, 10-5 to help Europe remain in the tie.
Alcaraz and Fritz came on with Team World leading 11-10, meaning the winner of their match would lead their team to victory. On the first day, the scores were tied at 2-2. At the end of the second, Team World led 8-4.
This year's edition of the Laver Cup was the final appearances for both captains, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. The duo are set to be replaced by Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah starting next year. Borg leaves the tournament with a 5-2 head-to-head record against McEnroe as captain of the exhibition event.
"It is a different feeling" - Carlos Alcaraz on his Laver Cup experience
In a press conference on the second day, Carlos Alcaraz shed light on his experience at the Laver Cup, comparing it to other tournaments. The former World No. 1 acknowledged that it was a "different feeling" looking at his teammates instead of just his own coaches for assistance during a match.
Alcaraz was also very appreciative of how players like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov have supported him through the tournament, emphasizing that he has learnt a lot over the course of the last week.
"Normally I watch my team, you know, after every point. Here I'm looking at my partners and Bjorn more than my team (smiling). So it is a different feeling. For me was unique experience that I enjoyed a lot, you know, having, for example, Grigor all the time, you know, coaching me, saying me the tactics what I have to do during the match. It was crazy," Carlos Alcaraz said.
"And having, yeah, Stefanos and all the players behind me in all the, you know, break times, it was great for me. So I'm gonna take this experience for a long time, and I honestly learn a lot from them, as well," he added.
Carlos Alcaraz is next set to be in action at the ATP 500 China Open, which starts in Beijing on September 25.