Carlos Alcaraz saved two match points on his way to a topsy-turvy 6-3, 4-6, 13-11 revenge win over Taylor Fritz as Team Europe took a 7-5 lead in the Laver Cup on Saturday.
Fritz’s only career win against Alcaraz came in last year’s edition of the tournament, and at times on Saturday it seemed he might repeat the feat.
However, Alcaraz kept his nerve in his first singles match since his marathon defeat to Ben Shelton in the US Open quarterfinals before sealing the result with a drop shot Fritz could not send back.
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“The drop shot is part of my game,” Alcaraz said. “So in those moments, in those really close and important moments, I tried to use it because it was a really good weapon for me in this match and obviously I’ve been practicing the drops since I was a little kid.”
Team World had dominated most of the day’s play after trailing 3-1 at the start of play. Alex de Minaur had a 2-6, 7-6 (5), 11-9 comeback victory over Alexander Zverev and Learner Tien outlasted Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.
In the final match of the day, Zverev partnered with Casper Ruud to beat Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-6 (7) in doubles.
Wins are worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday. The first team to reach 13 points wins.
(With inputs from AP)
Published on Sep 27, 2026
