Alexander Zverev needed 24 hours to put right the worst afternoon of his weekend. Twenty-four hours after squandering a match point against Alex de Minaur, the German beat Learner Tien 7-6(3), 6-3 at The O2 on Sunday to carry Team Europe to an unassailable 13-5 lead and reclaim the Laver Cup from Team World.
It was the fourth time Zverev has struck the decisive blow in this competition, after Chicago in 2018, Geneva in 2019 and Boston in 2021. No player has scored more points in the event’s history — 26 across seven appearances — and none has won more singles matches, his eight now standing clear at the top. Zverev has been on court for all six of Team Europe’s titles.
“I haven’t won a match here in two years, so I’m happy that I did it today,” Zverev said. “Winning as a team — there’s no better feeling in sports. We don’t have enough of it in tennis.”
Cobolli and Mensik built the platform
Europe arrived on Sunday 7-5 ahead, needing six of the nine points on offer on the final day, when each win is worth three. Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik took the first three by beating de Minaur and Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-3, breaking the World pair late in a first set that had stayed on serve to 5-5 and then running away with the second.
At 10-5, Zverev needed only to hold up his end against a 20-year-old playing his first Laver Cup. Tien, the breakout American of the season, made him work for it: he saved three consecutive break points from 5-5 in the opening set and held a set point of his own before Zverev took the tie-break 7-3. The second set was tighter than the score suggests until Zverev’s return began to bite, and when the match ended, Carlos Alcaraz’s scheduled singles and the closing doubles were rendered irrelevant.
The route to 13:
- Friday (1pt each): Casper Ruud d. Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8; Brandon Nakashima d. Mensik 6-1, 3-6, 10-7; Rafael Jodar d. Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-3; Alcaraz/Mensik d. Bublik/Fritz 6-4, 6-4. Europe 3-1.
- Saturday (2pts each): De Minaur d. Zverev 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9; Tien d. Cobolli; Alcaraz d. Fritz 6-3, 4-6, 13-11; Zverev/Ruud d. Bublik/Nakashima 6-4, 7-6. Europe 7-5.
- Sunday (3pts each): Cobolli/Mensik d. de Minaur/Fritz 7-5, 6-3; Zverev d. Tien 7-6(3), 6-3. Europe 13-5.
Two days that defined Zverev’s weekend
Saturday had been brutal. Zverev led by a set and served for the match at 5-4, then held match point at 9-8 in the deciding tie-break and pushed a forehand slice wide. De Minaur, who finished the contest with bloodied knees from diving at volleys, won 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9 and put Team World 5-3 up — the first time the visitors had led all weekend.
That defeat ended a nine-match winning run for Zverev that had taken in the US Open title and two Davis Cup singles wins for Germany. The world No. 2, a two-time major champion this season after also winning Roland Garros, had every reason to be brittle on Sunday. Instead he produced the most controlled tennis of his three days in London.
Europe’s recovery from 5-3 down was not Zverev’s alone. Alcaraz saved two match points against Fritz before closing out a 13-11 tie-break with a drop shot, avenging a loss to the American in San Francisco last year, and the Spaniard’s partnership with Mensik delivered points on Friday and Saturday night.
Noah’s first, and a changing cast
For Yannick Noah, in his second year as Team Europe captain, this was a first title after Andre Agassi’s Team World won 15-9 in San Francisco in 2025. “I don’t know if I’m a captain, but most of all I think maybe you see me as a father or grandfather,” Noah said. “We all love to play, but sometimes winning feels good, so I’m really happy that, for once, you won for me.”
Europe have now won six of the nine editions, and the pattern of the event is holding: whichever side has the deeper top-10 core tends to win the Sunday points, where the three-point weighting rewards depth over a single hot hand. Team World’s problem in London was not effort — de Minaur and Fritz were their most committed players of the weekend — but that Europe could field Alcaraz and Zverev in the same singles line-up and still have Ruud, Mensik and Cobolli to call on.
The more interesting long-term story may be the newcomers. Jodar, a debutant, won his singles match inside 84 minutes; Tien, on debut for Team World, lost only to the second-best player in the sport after beating Cobolli on Saturday. Both are likely to be back, and both suggest the next few editions will look very different from the ones Zverev has spent a decade deciding.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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