Alcaraz plans for Laver Cup debut alongside rivals: “We have to represent Europe in best way possible”

Carlos Alcaraz might be heading to Berlin’s Uber Arena for his Laver Cup debut without fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, but he plans to bring back the glory to Europe after two consecutive failures. Team World took the trophy home in 2023 in Vancouver and the year before in London.

In his quest, Alcaraz will have company from his Team Europe mates, including Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and eleventh-hour entrant Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov entered the 2024 Laver Cup fray after Nadal’s withdrawal.

Team Europe, on the court without a Top 3 player for the first time in Laver Cup history, met with a lopsided result in the previous edition. Led by American John McEnroe, Team World thrashed them 13-2 to defend their title.

Thus, debutant Alcaraz, the world No 3, will have an added responsibility to deliver this year and he seems ready:

“I love it and I wanted to be part of it. It’s a serious competition. I think we have to represent Europe in the best way possible.”

Carlos Alcaraz

“The prestige that this tournament has, and, being a Laver Cup champion is a huge thing,” the Spaniard told lavercup.com.

Interestingly, the Spaniard will fight alongside otherwise rivals like world No 2 Alexander Zverev and world No 5 Daniil Medvedev under 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg’s captaincy.

 “We are going to laugh a lot, I’m sure about it,” Alcaraz said on being in the same team as his adversaries. “Having a lot of time with them and speaking with them about something else, not only tennis, is going to be different… and I like different things.”

“My dad is a huge fan of Bjorn Borg” – Carlos Alcaraz looks forward to learning from departing captain

While Carlos Alcaraz will be donning the blue shirt for the first time, captain Bjorn Borg will draw curtains on his Team Europe captaincy. Borg has led the side to four championships since the 2017 inaugural edition.

The Swede will be imparting some vital tennis lessons to Alcaraz, who looks forward to their partnership.

“A legend from tennis and from the sport in general,” the four-time Grand Slam champion said. “My dad is a huge fan of him [Bjorn Borg] as well. So being, you know, a coach from Bjorn Borg is going to be a really important moment for me, for my career, for my life.”

The Spaniard has a task on his hands to back Borg’s interesting warning he issued to Team World during the 2023 presentation ceremony in Vancouver.

“I have to tell Team World this, don’t ever think you’re gonna beat us this badly every year because we’d be back in Europe next year, so it’s going to be a different story,” Borg said.

Yannick Noah is set to replace Borg as Team Europe’s captain for the 2025 Laver Cup, to be held in San Francisco.

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