Established in 2017, the Laver Cup is the product of a collaboration between Tennis Australia, successful investor (and ex-Davis Cup competitor) Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Roger Federer’s Team8 entertainment company.
The tournament is named after Aussie tennis legend Rod Laver, the first and only man in the Open Era to clinch all four majors in the same calendar year, thereby achieving the fabled Grand Slam.
Its template is inspired by golf’s Ryder Cup, which pits Europe’s elite against their American equivalents in a high-stakes team contest.
Unlike golf’s marquee international competition, the Laver Cup takes place annually as opposed to every two years. Although there is still a Team Europe, their opponents are composed of players from any other continent, hence the name Team World.
Similar to the Ryder Cup, participants are either invited by virtue of their ranking performance or as part of the captains’ selection process.
After serving as captains in each of the first seven editions of the Laver Cup, former on-court rivals Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe relinquished their roles two years ago.
The five-time Wimbledon champion handed leadership of the European team over to Yannick Noah, while Andre Agassi was drafted in to replace his fellow American.
As was the case last year, Noah and Agassi will be supported by vice-captains Tim Henman and Pat Rafter respectively.
Team World secured their third Laver Cup success last year, beating Team Europe 15-9 after turning the tide on day two. Having won each of the first four Laver Cups before triumphing again in 2024, the Europeans will still enjoy overall bragging rights whatever the outcome this weekend.
The action commences this Friday afternoon with the opening singles matches, continuing through to Sunday evening’s trophy ceremony.
Full coverage of the event will be provided by both Sky Sports and TNT Sports, as both networks have brokered broadcasting deals that enable access to the Laver Cup.
2026 Laver Cup – Key information
Dates: September 25th – September 27th
Captains: Yannick Noah (Team Europe) vs. Andre Agassi (Team World)
Venue: The O2 Arena, London
Reigning Champions: Team World – beat Team Europe 15-9 at San Francisco’s Chase Centre in 2025
Format & principles
The format of the Laver Cup has remained consistent throughout its nine-year existence. Team Europe and Team World face each other in a series of singles and doubles matches, with each victory worth a pre-defined number of points.
A win is worth one point on day one, two points on day two, and three points on day three, regardless of whether it comes in a singles or doubles contest.
As there are exactly four fixtures – three singles and one doubles contest – each day, a total of 24 points are available. This means that the first team to reach 13 points are crowned champions, as this tally creates an insurmountable gap between the two opponents.
With exactly half of the overall number of points being distributed on the final day, it theoretically offers an opportunity for losing teams to recover any points deficit they incurred over Friday and Saturday.
This allocation system has facilitated several impressive comebacks, such as the four-point margin Europe overturned to secure silverware in 2024.
Each day consists of three singles and one doubles match, which are all aligned to the best-of-three sets framework. If a match progresses to a third and final set, a single 10-point tiebreaker is used to determine the winner.
This is different to all other ATP-sanctioned tournaments, which follow the conventional scoring system used in the opening two (or four in longer-format matches) sets.
If the scores are locked at 12-12 at the end of day three, a one-off doubles match will serve as the decider. This scenario is yet to materialise at the Laver Cup, although it would have done so last year had Alexander Zverev defeated Taylor Fritz in the tournament’s final clash.
Who decides which participants compete in each match?
To ensure fairness and an even spread of representation within both teams, the Laver Cup adopts two varying approaches when configuring the line-ups for each match.
A blind draw is used to establish Friday’s fixture card, with each captain submitting a list of four players they want to deploy on day one. However, the eight remaining ties that are scheduled for the following two days are constructed differently.
The host captain decides whether he wants to pick his team’s Saturday line-up first, or transfer this opportunity to the rival team. This choice must be confirmed to the tournament’s ATP supervisor at some stage during Friday’s play.
The captain picking first is required to submit their player list within 30 minutes of the conclusion of Friday’s evening session, with the opposing captain then also having 30 minutes to confirm their choices in response.
The roles are subsequently reversed on Saturday night ahead of Sunday’s anticipated match-ups, affording both captains the chance to pick first and second across the weekend.
Consequently, strategy plays an essential role here. The decision-making process for the line-ups can directly influence the outcome of the tournament, with each captain hoping to land on the optimum configuration that enables them to earn as many points as possible.
Responding to their opponent’s selection enables a captain to field a player who is stronger than a specific opponent, therefore increasing the chances of victory. This is why the underdogs often want to ‘match’ second, as it gives them the best opportunity to get some early points on the board.
However, there is a clear disadvantage to this tactic, given that victories are worth more points on the tournament’s third day – when the underdog would likely be fielding their weaker team members – than they are on its second.
Rules
Within the structure outlined above, the tournament mandates that team captains must adhere to the following rules when selecting players for matches:
- Every member of the team must compete in at least one singles fixture over the course of the first two days.
- No player can participate in more than two singles matches.
- At least four of the six team members must feature in a doubles match.
- No doubles partnership can be used twice, unless a decider is required due to the scoreline being tied after 12 matches.
- Each team is permitted to have one alternate, who can be called upon in the event of an injury or withdrawal. Those two players are Arthur Fery (Team Europe) and Ignacio Buse (Team World)
Schedule
Here is the 2026 Laver Cup schedule in full:
Friday 25th September
Singles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
Doubles (match one): TBC
Saturday 26th September
Singles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
Doubles (match one): TBC
Sunday 27th September
Doubles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
Singles (match one): TBC
N.B. If only one match is required on Sunday due to one team building up an early unassailable lead, an exhibition contest will be held following the trophy ceremony.
Meet the teams
Both teams have a plethora of world-class talent in their ranks, with Grand Slam winners, Laver Cup veterans, and two iconic captains all involved in this weekend’s keenly anticipated event.
We review each of the participating 12 players, focusing more closely on those representing this year’s hosts.
Team Europe
Although a decent cross-section of the ATP’s top ten players will be in attendance, world number one Jannik Sinner is currently out with a knee injury. However, Europe can still call upon the services of Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz, who occupy the next two places in the rankings.
Despite captaining his country to three Davis Cup triumphs, Yannick Noah was unable to lead Team Europe to glory on his Laver Cup debut. The Frenchman will be hoping the following six players can produce a different result this time around.
Alexander Zverev
The most decorated player in the tournament’s history, Alexander Zverev has already lifted the Laver Cup on five separate occasions. Having tasted defeat with Team Europe for the first time last year, the German giant will be confident of making amends given his recent form.
Zverev claimed a long-awaited maiden Grand Slam title thanks to a stunning performance at Roland-Garros, before edging past Ben Shelton in the final of the US Open.
Carlos Alcaraz
As a result of his Australian Open triumph in January, a 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest player in history to complete a career Grand Slam.
However, after developing a wrist problem at the Barcelona Open, the skilful Spaniard was sidelined for the duration of the summer. Although he was denied the opportunity to defend his French Open crown and avenge last year’s Wimbledon heartbreak, Alcaraz did manage to make a quarter-final appearance at Flushing Meadows on his return to action earlier this month.
No player with at least six Laver Cup matches under their belt boasts a better record than the Murcia-born superstar, who has won six of his eight previous ties.
Approaching the end of a superb season on the ATP Tour, Flavio Cobolli is eager to earn his first-ever Laver Cup points this weekend. The Italian youngster lost his only previous outing in the competition last year, suffering a straight-sets defeat to Joao Fonseca on day one.
Cobolli almost clinched major silverware in April, when he was narrowly beaten by Zverev in a thrilling French Open showpiece. A quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon then followed, as did progression to the last four of August’s Cincinnati Open.
A month before his heroics in the French capital, the world number six lifted his maiden doubles crown alongside Swiss partner Belinda Bencic. The dynamic duo got the better of Gabriela Dabrowski and Lloyd Glasspool in the mixed doubles final at Indian Wells, despite their opponents arriving in California as top seeds.
Although Rafael Jodar only turned professional last year, Yannick Noah already has faith that the Spanish youngster – who only celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this month – can make a strong contribution at the 02 Arena.
Given his impressive exploits this season, it’s easy to see why. Europe’s only debutant advanced as far as the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros before coming unstuck against eventual winner Alexander Zverev, but managed to make it to the last four at the Canadian Open.
Strong displays in the Madrid and Rome ATP1000 events further strengthen the case for his Laver Cup inclusion, as does occupying 13th place in the current world rankings.
Jakub Mensik helped Europe charge into an early lead in 2025, winning both his singles and doubles matches on the opening day. The Czech youngster overcame Alex Michelsen in a gruelling three-set encounter, before finding a way past the same opponent – and his teammate Taylor Fritz – with the help of Carlos Alcaraz.
Still acclimatising to life on the ATP Tour, Mensik enjoyed his best-ever singles outing in a Grand Slam earlier this year by reaching the semi-finals of the French Open. He then conspired with fellow Czech player Karolina Muchova to claim the US Open mixed doubles title.
As well as being one of the most experienced players in the history of the competition, Casper Ruud’s Laver Cup record makes for extremely impressive reading. Having won six of his nine matches overall and only been beaten once in a singles contest, the classy Norwegian is an indispensable member of Noah’s squad.
Although he’ll likely be an asset this weekend, Ruud has failed to make a sufficient impact at any of this year’s Grand Slams. After being eliminated at the fourth-round stage in Melbourne and Paris, the former Madrid Open champion suffered a shock defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in his Wimbledon opener.
A back injury then prevented Ruud from attending the US Open, marking a frustrating end to an underwhelming campaign.
Team World
As is typically the case, Team World are heavily reliant on American representatives.
Andre Agassi leads three of his compatriots into battle, although it would have been four were it not for Tommy Paul’s withdrawal. The Olympic bronze medallist was forced to pull out after sustaining an elbow issue at the US Open, a year on from missing the 2025 Laver Cup as a consequence of a niggling foot injury.
Francisco Cerundolo takes Paul’s spot, after appearing in each of the last three Laver Cups. The Argentinian has triumphed in three of his previous four meetings in the competition, so he brings plenty of quality and experience to Agassi’s camp.
The visitors are also without Ben Shelton after the 23-year-old announced his absence last week, resulting in a first Laver Cup call-up for Canadian Open finalist Brandon Nakashima. There are also debuts for 20-year-old Learner Tien and Kazakh hero Alexander Bublik, who have both enjoyed sterling campaigns on the ATP Tour.
Team World’s charge is spearheaded by Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz, their only two players to feature in the top ten of the rankings, albeit in ninth and tenth place respectively.
Having made a decisive contribution to his team’s success in each of his previous two Laver Cup appearances, de Minaur could be the difference-maker once again. The Australian will be desperate to put yet another disappointing season behind him, after failing to progress beyond the quarter-final of a major for the seventh time in his career at Melbourne Park.
Taylor Fritz is in a similar boat. Hoping to make amends for a campaign ravaged by injury, the Californian is seeking to move on from a flurry of early Grand Slam exits. Nevertheless, Fritz will head into the weekend in a confident mood, thanks to winning four of his last six Laver Cup meetings.
Confirmed rosters
Here is the full list of this year’s Laver Cup participants:
Team Europe
Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Flavio Cobolli (Italy)
Rafael Jodar (Spain)
Jakub Mensik (Czechia)
Casper Ruud (Norway)
Alternate: Arthur Fery (Great Britain)
Team World
Alex de Minaur (Australia)
Taylor Fritz (USA)
Learner Tien (USA)
Brandon Nakashima (USA)
Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan)
Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina)
Alternate: Ignacio Buse (Peru)