SAN FRANCISCO — Team World was looking to climb out of a 3-1 hole and level things up — and maybe a little bit more — against Team Europe on Day 2 of the 2025 Laver Cup at Chase Center in San Francisco.
To do so, Team World — consisting of six players from places not located in Europe — first looked to Australian tennis superstar Alex de Minaur, who was taking on Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the first match of the afternoon session Saturday. Then, in the second half of the doubleheader, Team World’s Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina) would try to topple Holger Rune (Denmark).
Both efforts would prove successful, allowing Team World to leapfrog Team Europe on the scoreboard, ending the afternoon session with a 5-3 lead.
One dramatic move in points was made possible by the ascending scoring system at this tournament, which was founded in 2017 by Roger Federer and others in honor of Australian tennis legend Rod Laver and is played in a different city each year.
Match wins grow more valuable as the three-day competition continues — with those on Day 1 counting for one point and the Day 2 victories doubling in value. The wins on the final day, Sunday, count for 3 points. So, in other other words, teams have the chance to make up deficits — or increase their leads — quite quickly as the Laver Cup progresses.
Yet, it Team World certainly appeared to be the underdog going into both of these matches — especially when it came to de Minaur’s attempt to best Zverev.
Zverev, the world No. 3, has been absolutely untouchable in this setting, going undefeated as a member of Team Europe in the five previous Laver Cups that he’s played. The German also boasts a decided head-to-head advantage with an 8-2 record over de Minaur, who was a last minute replacement for Team World after American Frances Tiafoe bowed out due to injury.
Yet, de Minaur came into the tournament playing some absolutely sparkling tennis lately — capturing his 10th career title in Washington and then making it to quarterfinals at the US Open — and continued to do so as he absolutely dominated the first set against Zverev.
He broke Zverev on his first chance, quickly solidifying the lead with his next service game, and then breaking the tall German’s serve once again to go up 4-0. The Australian did so with an impressively varied game play — pretty much all of which underscored his reputation as one of the speediest guys on the court.
Zverev is the rare big guy who doesn’t mind getting into long rallies, yet he had no answer for the way de Minaur mixed things up — short floaters, going cross court, pounding Zverev’s backhand, soft droppers, racing down balls, hitting his spot on serve, etc.
Before he knew what hit him, Zverev had lost the first set 6-1. Oh, but he would win the Bad Sport of the Day title, punctuating the losing effort by launching his racquet across the court and coming way too close to hitting Team Europe coach Yannick Noah.
After a chat with Noah at the bench, Zverev managed to collect himself and he stayed pretty much dead-even with de Minaur throughout much of the second set. They stayed on serve — yet not without some dramatic twists and turns coming in the games shepherded by both men — through the first eight games.
Finally, Zverev lost his serve in the ninth game, giving de Minaur a clear path to take not only the set, but the match. The Australian made good on that effort, with the final score line reading 6-1, 6-4 de Minaur. The victory tied the score between the two teams at 3-3
Yet, de Minaur’s work for the day was not finished. He was set to return to play a doubles match in the night session with No. 32 Alex Michelsen against No. 11 Holger Rune (Denmark) and No. 12 Casper Ruud (Norway).
Rune also played during the afternoon session, losing a thrilling two-hour match to world No. 21 Cerundolo. The match was played a very high level by both men and many of their key stat lines were comparable, yet one might point to Cerundolo’s success with his second serve (56 percent, compared to 40 percent for Rune) and, of course, his greater ability to take advantage of breakpoint chances as key difference makers. The Argentinian put the match to bed with a 7-5 second set tiebreaker, taking the “W” by a score of 6-3, 7-6.
Team World 5, Team Europe 3.
The Laver Cup continues through Sunday. For more information, visit lavercup.com.
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