WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz turns coach for Casper Ruud at Laver Cup 2024 alongside veteran Grigor Dimitrov
Carlos Alcaraz didn't waste much time in making his influence felt in the Team Europe camp at the ongoing 2024 Laver Cup. The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion was captured by cameras joining veteran Grigor Dimitrov to coach Casper Ruud during the Norwegian's loss to Francisco Cerundolo in the opening match of this year's edition of the team tennis event.
Alcaraz is making his Laver Cup debut and is widely regarded as one to watch out for at the event, with Team Europe hopeful of taking the trophy away from Team World's hands. While the European contingent dominated the event across its first four editions, Team World is the two-time defending champion.
The first match at the 2024 Laver Cup saw Team Europe's Casper Ruud take on Team World's Francisco Cerundolo. Ruud struggled to impose himself for the majority of the encounter. During one of the changeovers, Carlos Alcaraz gave the Norwegian some advice on how to get the better of Cerundolo. Dimitrov chimed in as well.
Watch the moment unfold below:
Unfortunately for Team Europe, the pep talk did little to improve Ruud's performance. Ultimately, the Norwegian slumped to a 4-6, 4-6 loss to Cerundolo to hand Team World the lead. However, Stefanos Tsitsipas soon leveled things up as he registered a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win over Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Laver Cup is widely regarded as an exhibition event because players don't earn any ranking points by winning matches. However, in the build-up to this year's edition of the team tennis tournament, Alcaraz stated that he is taking it quite seriously.
Carlos Alcaraz had expressed his desire for Team Europe to do well at Laver Cup 2024
In the lead-up to the 2024 Laver Cup, Carlos Alcaraz called the event "a serious competition" and also spoke about representing Europe.
"It’s a serious competition. I think we have to represent Europe, you know, in the best way possible. The prestige that this tournament has, and, being a Laver Cup champion is a huge thing," Alcaraz said.
The World No. 3's debut Laver Cup outing is slated to be in doubles alongside teammate and World No. 2 Alexander Zverev. The Spanish and German duo is set to face Team World's all-American duo of Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.