Team Europe won the 2026 Laver Cup on Sunday 27 September, beating Team World 13-5 at The O2 in London. Alexander Zverev clinched the trophy by beating Learner Tien 7-6(3) 6-3, completing a comeback from 5-3 down on the Saturday.
A tight Friday in London
The ninth edition ran from 25 to 27 September, with Yannick Noah captaining Europe for a second year and Andre Agassi leading Team World. Both rosters changed before the start: Tommy Paul withdrew injured and was replaced by Francisco Cerúndolo, while Ben Shelton's withdrawal brought in Brandon Nakashima. Each win was worth one point on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday, with 13 needed for the title.
Casper Ruud opened the event by recovering from a set down to beat Cerúndolo 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 in the match tie-break. Nakashima levelled straight away with a 6-1 3-6 10-7 win over Jakub Menšík. Spain's Rafael Jódar then beat Alexander Bublik 6-2 6-3, and Carlos Alcaraz and Menšík beat Bublik and Taylor Fritz in the evening doubles, giving Europe a 3-1 lead overnight.
Team World strike first on Saturday
With double points on offer, Team World turned the score around in the afternoon session. Tien beat Flavio Cobolli 6-3 2-6 10-7, and Alex de Minaur then edged Zverev 2-6 7-6(5) 11-9 in a long match tie-break. That put Agassi's team 5-3 ahead with the evening session still to come.
Europe responded in the night session. Alcaraz beat Fritz 6-3 4-6 13-11 in another tie-break that could have gone either way, levelling at 5-5. Ruud and Zverev then beat Bublik and Nakashima 6-4 7-6(7) in the doubles, so Europe went into the final day 7-5 up and needing two of the remaining matches. "A couple points here and there could have changed the whole tie," de Minaur said afterwards, as reported by Sports Illustrated.
Zverev closes it out again
Sunday's opener went to Europe when Cobolli and Menšík beat de Minaur and Fritz 7-5 6-3, moving the score to 10-5. Zverev then faced Tien, who had already beaten Cobolli on Saturday. The first set went to a tie-break, which Zverev won 7-3, and a single break in the second set was enough to finish the match in one hour and 49 minutes.
According to the Laver Cup, it was the fourth time Zverev had clinched the trophy, after Chicago in 2018, Geneva in 2019 and Boston in 2021. He has played in all six of Europe's title wins and is the event's all-time leading points scorer. "Winning as a team, there's no better feeling in sports," he told the official Laver Cup website. The last two singles matches, including Alcaraz against de Minaur, were not needed.
What it means
The result restored order after Team World's 15-9 win in San Francisco in 2025 and takes Europe's overall record in the competition to six wins from nine editions. It was also a strong weekend for the younger names on both sides: Jódar beat Bublik in straight sets, while Tien beat Cobolli and pushed Zverev hard on the final day.
For Zverev, the London win capped a strong 2026 that also included Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and the US Open. The Laver Cup does not count towards the rankings, but it gave Europe's leading players a confidence boost before the final weeks of the ATP season.
Sources
This article was written by TiebreakNews from the reporting below, checked against official results and rankings.
- Laver Cup — Zverev (Again) Clinches Laver Cup for Team Europe
- ATP Tour — What were the Laver Cup results?
- Yahoo Sports — Laver Cup 2026 scores, results: Full rundown of how Team Europe beat Team World
- Sports Illustrated — Team Europe Rallies to Reclaim the Laver Cup Over Team World