Team World Captain Andre Agassi refused to dwell on what might have been after Team Europe reclaimed the Laver Cup with a 13-5 victory at London’s O2 Arena. Despite surrendering the trophy they captured in San Francisco 12 months ago, Team World pushed their opponents far harder than the final scoreline indicated.
Five matches went to a deciding Champions Tie-break, while Taylor Fritz came within a point of delivering one of the defining victories of the weekend against Carlos Alcaraz. In the end, a handful of crucial moments separated the two sides and Agassi did not have any regrets.
“You’re watching these guys die out there,” he said. “They’re showing more heart than sometimes I see in other real environments with things on the line. They’re there for each other. I couldn’t be prouder of it. I wish I had more of them in me.”
Although Team World won three of the five contests which went the distance, in the standout encounter between Fritz and Alcaraz, the American held two match points before narrowly missing out, as Alcaraz eventually edged through 13-11 in a dramatic finish that could easily have swung the tie in Team World’s favour.
“If I were to look back in hindsight, I’m not regretful,” said Agassi. “I mean, the ball could fall here or ball could fall there. Taylor’s serve on match point up, that thing, how close was that? You know, there were some epic battles out there that I think everybody — I think the sport won.”
While several key moments went against Team World, another factor in the defeat was their inability to secure a doubles victory. Team Europe swept all three doubles rubbers, and Vice-Captain Pat Rafter pointed to that as one of the decisive elements of the weekend.
“We sort of lacked a bit of variation when we came to putting our doubles teams together,” he said. “But the guys filled the spots beautifully, and as Andre said, one or two points here and there. The boys fought to get to that position. If a bit more luck went our way, all of a sudden, we’re in the driver’s seat.”
Compounding the challenge, Team World arrived in London with three changes from the line-up that had lifted the trophy in 2025. Most notably, Ben Shelton withdrew just a week before the event after reaching the US Open final, leaving the team needing to find late reinforcements.
“We were so lucky we had Francisco [Cerundolo] and Brandan {Nakashima] to come in and fill those spots, which was awesome,” said Rafter. “The issue we then had, we had a little bit of opening in other areas of the game which we thought we had covered within our team.”
Alex de Minaur and Fritz also reflected on the disappointment of defeat, while offering an insight into the challenges of competing as the designated ‘away’ team at London’s O2 Arena.
“I think we were pretty close,” said de Minaur. “When you look at Saturday, we won two supers and lost one with Taylor playing an epic match. I mean, could have been a completely different Day 3 had we gotten Taylor’s match or even the doubles. It was just a couple points here and there, and could have changed the whole tie. We were very close and up against it. From the get-go, we were the underdogs, but we put in a hell of a fight.”
Fritz, who also suffered defeat in his doubles match on the final day, was reluctant to blame the London crowd for the result. Instead, the world number one highlighted the inherent challenge of being the away team, particularly on Day 3 when Team World was required to declare its line-up first, allowing Team Europe to respond strategically. Agassi later described that as a “brutal advantage”.
“I don’t think the crowd was that tough,” said Fritz. “I thought they were pretty fair, to be honest. I think it’s more just being the away team. They get to pick matchups on Day 3, so I think being in a position where going into the final day we need to win three out of the four matches when they get to pick the matches – it’s just a tough ask.”
Now that the ninth edition of the Laver Cup has come to a close, the players can reflect on another successful chapter for the event. Returning to London for the second time since Roger Federer’s emotional retirement at the tournament in 2022, the competition once again showcased the unique team format that has become its trademark.
Attention will now turn to next year’s milestone tenth edition in Los Angeles, which will be staged just a year before the city hosts the 2028 Olympic Games. Having now experienced both victory and defeat as Team World captain, Agassi appears determined to leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of reclaiming the trophy next year, something that his friend Rafter knows all too well.
“I will be getting a text in the next couple of days, I can tell you. He’ll be right onto it!”
