Alexander Zverev pulled off a stunning win against Frances Tiafoe before Carlos Alcaraz completed a remarkable final day comeback to win the Laver Cup.
Joyful scenes unfurled on the Laver Cup’s iconic black hard-court after Carlos Alcaraz defeated Taylor Fritz in formidable style.
Team Europe entered the final day trailing by four points to eight, with Team World needing just two wins to secure their third consecutive Laver Cup title.
The unlikely pairing of Alcaraz and Casper Ruud forged to victory over Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, before the former put his side within just a single win of glory.
Alexander Zverev was handed the baton and after his earlier defeat to Fritz, had the whole tournament on the line.
After eking past Tiafoe in a match tie-break, Alcaraz bruised past Fritz to pick up the Laver Cup and take his tally to a record-breaking eight points for the week.
Alexander Zverev reveals what Carlos Alcaraz in their team meeting on Saturday
Visibly growing in confidence throughout the three days after a dodgy few weeks in North America, Alcaraz was phenomenal on the final day.
Opting to partner with Ruud was a surprising but ultimately effective choice with the pair kicking the day off strongly.
The Laver Cup is brilliant as it offers a fresh look into how the top players work together and develop their relationships off court.
Zverev recalled the amazing confidence Alcaraz exhibited ahead of the deicing day, in his press conference: “It was quite simple,” he said. “We had a meeting last night. Carlos walked in, he decided I want to play doubles with Casper, Daniil is going to play singles against Shelton and you are not going to lose to Tiafoe.
“He had so much confidence in me that I had never had in my life or in myself ever. And then I am going to win the deciding match.”
After Zverev’s opening singles defeat to Fritz, Alcaraz seemed to almost have more confidence in Zverev that he had in himself.
“We had like a half hour meeting and then Carlos decided what we were going to do and we went to do that!” Zverev explained.
Alexander Zverev needed a nudge from Carlos Alcaraz to help defeat his nerves
Reportedly not feeling his best, Zverev’s third consecutive defeat to Fritz clearly rocked him.
Having this year suffered his usual woes in the Grand Slams as he suffered a defeat from a set up in the French Open final, Zverev looked low on confidence at the Laver Cup.
Despite being the most experienced player on the team with five Laver Cup appearances, Zverev needed a leg-up from debutant Alcaraz to push through the final match.
Zverev had earlier labelled Alcaraz a ‘tennis legend’ and his stock, at least in the German’s mind, will have presumably gone up after his Laver Cup heroics.
Even Roger Federer highlighted Zverev’s key weakness as his natural resort to passive tennis when the tensions are high.
Finally going against that, it was his nerve and bravery that got him through his final match against Tiafoe and steer his team to eventual glory.
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