![\"Alexander](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EH12762_spoOStkx_20250918035937-750x500.jpg\")
Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have been among Team Europe\u2019s top point-scorers in Laver Cup competition.<\/p>\nAlexander Zverev has been a part of six Laver Cup contingents tracing back to the Team Europe vs. Team World showdown\u2019s inaugural edition in Prague back in 2017.<\/p>\n
That first year, he played alongside the likes of Big Three contemporaries Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The 28-year-old German has since been a teammate to everyone from Novak Djokovic to Carlos Alcaraz, between singles and doubles accounting for a Laver Cup-record 21 points. Each of those teams has had its own identity, says Zverev, its own character. The 2025 edition, headed by first-year captain Yannick Noah, is no exception.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been very different kinds of teams,\u201d observed Zverev, No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings. \u201cBeing part of a team with Roger and Rafa, whom I grew up watching all my life and idolizing, it was extremely special.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I believe that this team can beat anyone,\u201d he added. \u201cEvery single player on this team knows how to win big tournaments and big titles and big matches. For me, sitting on the bench while watching these guys is very, very comfortable. I have full trust in every single player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have been among Team Europe\u2019s top point-scorers in Laver Cup competition.<\/p>\n
Zverev was referring to the reigning world No. 1 Alcaraz and Casper Ruud, as well as Laver Cup rookies Holger Rune, Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli. They\u2019re the clear favorites \u2014 on paper anyway. But Zverev\u2019s captain says he\u2019s not looking too far ahead. He\u2019s just happy to still have his job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not fired yet,\u201d joked Noah, who took over from Swedish legend Bjorn Borg, who captained Team Europe to five titles in seven tries. It\u2019s that kind of levity that\u2019s kept the Team Europe locker room loose, the 1983 Roland Garros champ\u2019s way of deflecting any pressure.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFor the team, it\u2019s great to have those good vibes, that good energy before the practices, before the matches.\u201d \u2014 Carlos Alcaraz on first-year Team Europe captain Yannick Noah<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great relationship so far,\u201d said Alcaraz, who accounted for eight points between singles and double last year during his Laver Cup debut in Berlin. \u201cHe has a great energy. He\u2019s funny, as well. For the team, it\u2019s great to have those good vibes, that good energy before the practices, before the matches.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will come down to whoever performs the best in the most important points. That\u2019s where you like to show up and play good for your team,\u201d said Ruud, who for the fourth time in five years will step into the leadoff spot for Team Europe on Day 1, when he faces American Reilly Opelka.<\/p>\n
Even with Noah lightening the mood, Ruud says that with any team event, there are always some nerves. You\u2019re not just playing for yourself, after all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little extra pressure, because you feel like you\u2019re also playing for your teammates and your captains,\u201d said the father-to-be. \u201cYou want to give your best. I\u2019ve been on the winning side and the losing side, and winning is a much better feeling. I played ties where it\u2019s been blowouts both ways. I have played ties when we were leading going into Day 3 and lost. Last year, we were down going into Day 3 and won.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very strong team,\u201d said Rune, No. 11 in the PIF ATP Rankings. \u201cBut we have to handle it the right way. In the rankings, we might be the favorite, but Team World has some dangerous players. We just have to stay focused on our game, to just go with our flow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexander Zverev has been a part of six Laver Cup contingents tracing back to the Team Europe vs.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":238643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[3098,10789,3100,4145,82302,3886,13158,62,1464,67,132,68,124404],"class_list":{"0":"post-238642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-alexander-zverev","9":"tag-casper-ruud","10":"tag-flavio-cobolli","11":"tag-holger-rune","12":"tag-jakub-mensik","13":"tag-rafael-nadal","14":"tag-roger-federer","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-tennis","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-yannick-noah"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115230387980926555","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}