Alexander Zverev beats Learner Tien to seal 13-5 Laver Cup victory for Team Europe

Decisive Sunday matches

Sunday began with Team Europe leading 7-5 after the first two days of play at London's O2 Arena. In the opening doubles contest worth three points, Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik defeated Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-3, extending Europe's advantage to 10-5. Alexander Zverev then faced 20-year-old American Learner Tien, ranked 13th in the world and making his tournament debut, in the following singles match. The German world number two overcame difficulties with the arena surface to win the first-set tiebreak 7-3 and closed out a 7-6, 6-3 victory in one hour and 49 minutes. That result pushed Europe past the 13-point threshold needed to secure the tournament title.

Tournament format and canceled rubbers

Matches carried one point on Friday, two points on Saturday, and three points on Sunday. Because Zverev's singles win established an insurmountable 13-5 lead, organizers canceled the remaining scheduled matches for the final day. Carlos Alcaraz did not need to play Alex de Minaur, and the proposed meeting between Rafael Jodar and Taylor Fritz was also called off. The result secured Europe's sixth title in nine editions of the annual team competition, which Roger Federer launched in 2017 in honor of Australian tennis champion Rod Laver. Team World had won the 2025 event in San Francisco, but Team Europe regained the trophy in London under captain Yannick Noah, who managed the squad opposite Team World captain Andre Agassi.

Team Europe13

Team World5

Team Europe

13 points

Team World

5 points

Data from the article text

Zverev's week and post-match remarks

Zverev entered Sunday's match after recovering from a singles defeat against De Minaur on Saturday, when his nine-match singles winning run ended in a three-set loss. Later on Saturday, the German paired with Casper Ruud to win their doubles match against Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-6. Zverev has participated in all six of Europe's Laver Cup titles and holds the tournament record for singles victories with eight. After celebrating the victory on court with Alcaraz and his teammates, Zverev reflected on the team dynamic.

“Winning as a team, there's no better feeling in sports. We don't have enough of it in tennis.”

He also paid tribute to the opposition during his post-match comments.

“Massive credit to the entire Team World. They pushed us all the way again, they were champions last year. We have a great team chemistry, it was a team effort.”

Venue schedule and season outlook

Courtside attendees in London included Roger Federer, Steffi Graf, Rod Laver, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Although the Laver Cup does not award ATP ranking points, Zverev's chase for the world number one ranking gained ground on Friday when Jannik Sinner withdrew from the ATP tournament in Beijing because of knee issues. Sinner cannot defend the 500 ranking points he earned in Beijing last year, leaving Zverev with fewer points to protect through the remaining weeks of the tennis calendar. The Laver Cup will return next year at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.