Team Europe celebrate with the trophy after winning the Laver Cup.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5 as Team Europe rallied to beat Team World 13-11 and win the Laver Cup.
Alcaraz broke the US Open runner-up Fritz in the 11th game and then closed out victory on serve, sparking celebrations as the Europe team rejoiced with captain Björn Borg in Berlin.
Team World was the favourite to win the Laver Cup for a third straight time after leading 8-4 on points heading into the last of the three days.
Europe began the comeback on Sunday when Alcaraz and Casper Ruud won the doubles 6-2, 7-6 (6) against American pair Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. But Shelton then downed Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (6), 7-5, 10-7 to move the World team into pole position.
Tiafoe, who reached the US Open semifinals, could have sealed it for them but he lost to French Open finalist Alexander Zverev 6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-5, setting up the decider between Alcaraz and Fritz.
The Laver Cup is like golf’s Ryder Cup with the first team to 13 points winning the contest. Each of the four matches on Sunday was worth three points.
Europe’s only win in Saturday’s four matches came from Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
On Sunday, the 21-year-old Spaniard showed his big-match temperament once again. After his win, the four-time Grand Slam winner was compared to peak Federer, but Alcaraz said such a comparison was “impossible”.
“I’m too far away from that level,” he said. “I hope I’ll reach it one day, but it’s really impossible.”
Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this season, had not played the event before.
“It’s great. We can feel proud, all of us. I’m really happy. All of us did a pretty good job over the days. It’s been a top one,” the Spaniard added.
“We almost lost, but Sasha (Zverev) came with some really good tennis and gave me a chance to win the Laver Cup.”
Alcaraz said he found it more difficult to watch matches with his Team Europe colleagues than to actually take to the court, saying “the nerves were killing us”.
“It’s really difficult to watch the matches from outside. I was trying to stay away a bit, watching on TV in the lockerroom, trying to support from there. The nerves were there.”