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Four-time Grand Slam champion, Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, September 22, defeated Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5 to lead way for Team Europe to lift their fifth Laver Cup title. The Spaniard’s win over Fritz rallied Team Europe to 13-11 victory over Team World in Berlin. While the youngster broke US Open runner-up, Taylor Fritz in the 11th game, he closed to victory on a serve.
Although Team World entered the tournament as favourites, eyeing their third straight win, they stood on the leaderboard with 8-4 points into the last three days. But on Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud beat American pair of Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 7-6(6). However, the winning run wasn’t long for Team Europe as Daniil Medvedev went down Ben Shelton 6-7 (6), 7-5, 10-7 to put Team World in the pole position.
With Alexander Zverev breaking past Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-5 at the crucial stage, all was down to the deciding game, which was played between Alcaraz and Fritz, with the former winning the challenge and helping Team Europe to an emphatic win.
Carlos Alcaraz dedicates Team Europe’s win to retiring Bjorn Borg
Soon afterwards, Team Europe broke into wild celebrations. After Alcaraz’s victory in the final game, the four-time Grand Slam winner also dedicated the victory to Team Europe’s retiring captain, Bjorn Borg.
Speaking at the post-event ceremony, Alcaraz said, “We did it for you. It’s great, obviously we came here with a goal, all of us, that is to win the Laver Cup. We almost lost, you know, but Sascha [Zverev] came with really good tennis, and give me the chance to win the Laver Cup so I think we are really, really happy with everything. It’s really difficult to watch the matches from outside, you know, a lot of nerves, killing us.”
Borg, who has retired from the tournament, acknowledged the challenge from Team World and added that he has been proud of representing the European team. “It’s always tough to play team World at Laver Cup. I’m very proud of my team,” Borg said.
While the curtains were called to 2024 Laver Cup, the next edition of the tournament will be held in San Francisco at the Chase Center from September 19 to 21, 2025.
