Team Europe won the 2024 Laver Cup title
Team Europe defeated Team World to win the Laver Cup, the tennis mega-clash that was played over three days in Berlin.
The victory of the Europeans brought the Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, who in the last match prevailed over Taylor Fritz (USA) with 2-0 (6:2, 7:5). In this way, the European team won by 13-11 and took the cup for the fifth time after triumphing in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Daniil Medvedev (Russia), Alexander Zverev (Germany) and Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany), Casper Ruud (Norway), Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria), as well as Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) and Flavio Cobolli (Italy) completed Team Europe.
The Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz started the day for Team Europe and then ended it with success. Together with Casper Ruud, he started with a doubles victory over Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe with 2-0 (6:2, 7:6 (8:6)).
Earlier, Ben Shelton (USA) defeated Daniil Medvedev (Russia) by 2-1 (6:7 (6:8), 7:5, 10:7). Ben Shelton bounced back from the loss in the doubles match and contributed to the hopes of the Team World, which took the match 11:7. For Daniil Medvedev, this was his second defeat of the tournament, as he previously fell to another American – Frances Tiafoe by 1-2 (6:3, 4:6, 5:10).
Immediately after that, Alexander Zverev came onto the court. The German also won his match versus Frances Tiafoe in three sets – 2-1 (6:7 (5:7), 7:5, 10:5). The world’s number two trailed by a set and had given Frances Tiafoe a break, but was able to claw his way back to secure a decisive third-set tiebreak. It was there that he secured four match points, and in the last play, Frances Tiafoe sent the ball out from the forehand.
This is how it came to the last singles match, in which Carlos Alcaraz guaranteed the success of the European team. The Spaniard also impressed with a rather serious good physical preparation, after he needed only an hour and a half against the background of the marathon series in the German capital. In the first set, he made two breaks and really controlled the tempo. In the second set, Carlos Alcaraz led by 3:1, but allowed the break to be returned to him for 4:4. In the 11th game, however, he took advantage of two balls in the net from the American and made a second break in the set, cemented by a serve immediately after.
Grigor Dimitrov took part only on the first day of the tournament, when he scored a victory for the European team. Although with signs of injury, Grigor Dimitrov did not allow surprise and proved his class over Alejandro Tabilo (Chile), defeating him by 2-0 (7:6 (7:4), 7:6 (7:2)).
The Laver Cup tournament is named after the Australian Rod Laver – the only tennis player in the Open era who won all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year – in 1969. The Team World won the trophy in 2022 and 2023, and in 2020 it was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament is played by both teams within three days. In the first, victories bring one point for the asset, in the second – two, and in the third – three.
