SEPT 19 - 21, 2025 | SAN FRANCISCO
Team Europe’s Carlos Alcaraz will be toting a whole lot of momentum when he arrives at San Francisco’s Chase Center for Laver Cup 2025 next week.
After all, the 22-year-old Spaniard leads the tour in wins (61) and titles (seven) this season, the last two coming back-to-back at the Cincinnati Open and US Open. Alcaraz’s four-set 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph in the final over Jannik Sinner at Flushing Meadows made him the youngest man in the Open Era to win six major singles titles, and catapulted him back to No.1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since September 2023.
“When you achieve the goals you set up for yourself at the beginning of the year, it feels amazing,” said Alcaraz, broken just three times across seven matches in New York. “It was one of the first goals that I had during the season, just to try to recover the No.1 as soon as possible. To achieve that once again, it’s a dream. Doing it the same day as getting another Grand Slam feels even better. It’s everything I’m working for, and I’m really happy to be able to live these experiences.”
Alcaraz reflected on his first Laver Cup experience in 2024, when he sealed a come-from-behind 13-11 victory for Team Europe in Berlin, dispatching American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-5 at Uber Arena.
“It surprised me a lot,” he said. “I loved it. I really wanted to be part of the Laver Cup again. The experience was special. Getting to know the players much better off the court, for me, was great. The intensity with which we play in the matches is pretty high. I loved the format, playing singles, playing doubles, just to be there coaching and supporting my teammates. We get to see tennis from the outside, too. It’s a great point of view.”
Team Europe 2025 line-up ready to charge
First-year Captain Yannick Noah will also call on Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli, Casper Ruud, Jakub Menšík and Holger Rune to lead the Team Europe charge. The third-ranked Zverev will make his competition-best sixth Laver Cup appearance in the City by the Bay. An Australian Open finalist in January, the German captured his third Munich title in April and posted back-to-back semifinals this summer in Toronto and Cincinnati.
After a third-round showing at the US Open, Cobolli will get his first taste of Laver Cup action. The 23-year-old Italian pocketed his first two tour titles this year on clay in Bucharest and Hamburg, the second coming at the ATP 500 level. He was ranked as high as No.17 in July.
Making his fifth consecutive Laver Cup appearance is a fan favorite in Ruud, who in April became the first-ever Norwegian ATP Masters 1000 titlist in Madrid. Also claiming his first 1000-level trophy in 2025 was the 20-year-old Czech Menšík, who outhit boyhood idol Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in an unforgettable Miami Open final. Rune’s fifth career title came in April in Barcelona, where he snapped Alcaraz’s nine-match win streak 7-6(6), 6-2 in the final.
US Open quarterfinalist Fritz eyes Laver Cup Glory
Though he fell short of a return trip to the US Open final, stopped by four-time titlist Djokovic in a four-set quarterfinal, Fritz has had a summer to remember. The Southern Californian went 13-2 during the grass-court campaign, capturing titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne, then punching through to his first semifinal on the lawns of the All England Tennis Club.
Stepping in to replace Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul on the Team World roster (both suffered injury setbacks at the US Open) are fellow Americans Reilly Opelka and Alex Michelsen. The towering 6-foot-11 power-server Opelka, an ATP Masters 1000 finalist in Toronto in 2021, made his Laver Cup debut later that year in Boston. The 21-year-old Michelsen, appearing for the first time, achieved a career-high No. 30 in July after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open.
The latest addition to Team World replacing Frances Tiafoe is No.8 Alex de Minaur. Since joining the red side in London 2022, where he won a three-setter over Andy Murray on Friday night, de Minaur has carved a place in the top 10 and a reputation for regularly beating anyone ranked lower than him. The speedster Aussie is coming off another impressive Grand Slam fortnight at Flushing Meadows, where he reached the quarterfinals for the third time. De Minaur will have two special supporters in his corner at Chase Center: fellow Aussies Rod Laver and Team World Vice Captain Pat Rafter.
New Team World Captain Andre Agassi has a not-so-secret weapon in Brazilian sensation João Fonseca, who at 19 is set to make his Laver Cup debut. Fonseca earned the biggest win of his career over Laver Cup alum Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open as a qualifier, the youngest man ever to defeat a Top-10 player in Melbourne. He would later capture his first ATP title in Buenos Aires, defeating Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 7-6(1) in an all-Team World final. He became the youngest South American tour-level champion since Guillermo Pérez Roldán of Argentina in 1987, and the youngest Brazilian champion in the Open Era.
“It’ll be a good experience for me to be close to the best players,” said the Rio native, looking ahead to the Team World vs. Team Europe showdown. “It’s going to be a good environment. And I love playing with a team. In tennis, you usually play as an individual. To play Davis Cup or Laver Cup, it’s always a great vibe.”
Team Europe holds a 5-2 edge in Laver Cup clashes. Agassi’s Team World contingent will look to narrow that gap on home turf beginning Sept. 19 in San Francisco.
