All to play for on the final day. Two thing here. Tennis missed Alcaraz and why does Laver Cup use these Slow Slow courts. Let’s see what today holds.
Laver Cup 2026 Day 2 Review – Drama, Comebacks and Alcaraz Magic in London
There are good days of tennis.
There are very good days of tennis.
And then there are days when the Laver Cup decides that everybody’s blood pressure has been far too comfortable lately.
Day 2 in London was one of those days.
Team Europe walked into The O2 with a 3–1 advantage.
By the end of Saturday night?
Europe 7. Team World 5.
Everything still alive.
Everything still beautifully uncomfortable.
And with two points available for every victory on Day 2, there was absolutely nowhere to hide.
This wasn’t polite Saturday afternoon tennis.
This was Laver Cup tennis.
And it was Simply Sublime.
Learner Tien 6–3, 2–6, 10–7 Flavio Cobolli
Team World strikes first.
What a way to begin Day 2.
Learner Tien may have been making his Laver Cup debut, but somebody apparently forgot to tell him he was supposed to look nervous.
The 20-year-old American came out beautifully composed against Flavio Cobolli and took the opening set 6–3.
Cobolli wasn’t disappearing quietly.
The Italian responded exactly as you would expect, taking the second set 6–2 and sending us into the Laver Breaker.
First match of the day.
Already a deciding tiebreak.
Of course.
Welcome to the Laver Cup.
And this was where Tien impressed me most.
At 20 years old, with the scoreboard tight, the crowd involved and two enormously valuable points sitting there waiting for somebody to grab them, he stayed composed.
10–7.
Match Tien.
Two points Team World.
And suddenly Europe’s comfortable overnight advantage had disappeared.
3–3.
Game on.
This is precisely why I enjoy the Laver Cup.
A player who might not ordinarily command the biggest headline walks into this format and suddenly finds himself playing one of the most important matches of the weekend.
Tien didn’t merely participate.
He delivered.
Simply Sublime for: composure under pressure.
Alex de Minaur 2–6, 7–6(5), 11–9 Alexander Zverev
Now THIS was Laver Cup.
Alexander Zverev started like a man who had dinner reservations.
The German dominated the opening set 6–2 and looked completely in control.
Powerful.
Confident.
Clinical.
De Minaur?
Apparently just warming up.
Because Alex de Minaur does not understand the concept of going away quietly.
He runs.
Then he runs some more.
Then you hit what appears to be a winner and somehow this Australian appears on the other side of the court returning it.
At some stage you begin wondering whether there are actually two Alex de Minaurs.
The second set became a proper fight.
De Minaur dragged it into a tiebreak and took it 7–5.
Another Laver Breaker.
Naturally.
And then things became ridiculous.
Zverev led.
De Minaur fought back.
Zverev had match point at 9–8.
De Minaur saved it.
Then the Australian earned his opportunity.
11–9.
Done.
What a comeback.
What a competitor.
What a match.
Team World had suddenly turned a 1–3 overnight deficit into a 5–3 lead.
The momentum had completely changed.
Andre Agassi and the Team World bench were loving it.
Europe?
Not quite so much.
And that is when the Laver Cup becomes fascinating.
Because you’re not merely playing for yourself.
You’ve got teammates sitting metres away living every point with you.
Captains talking.
Players shouting.
Everybody invested.
Tennis suddenly becomes a team sport.
And I love it.
Simply Sublime for: refusing to accept that the match was gone.
Carlos Alcaraz 6–3, 4–6, 13–11 Taylor Fritz
And then Carlos arrived.
If you’re going to put Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz on a tennis court at The O2 with two precious Laver Cup points available, perhaps don’t make any plans for afterwards.
This one was going to be fun.
Alcaraz took the opening set 6–3.
Fritz responded.
6–4.
And yes…
You know what’s coming.
Another Laver Breaker.
At this point they might as well have renamed Saturday National Laver Breaker Day.
But this one was different.
This one was magnificent.
Alcaraz moved ahead.
Fritz fought back.
The American then found himself with not one but two match points.
Imagine being Team Europe at that moment.
Already trailing 5–3.
Your superstar staring at defeat.
Team World potentially about to move significantly ahead.
And standing across the net is Taylor Fritz, the same man who beat Alcaraz at the 2025 Laver Cup.
Pressure?
Just a little.
Alcaraz saved the first.
Then the second.
And eventually…
13–11.
Carlos Alcaraz.
Match Europe.
5–5.
The O2 erupted.
This is what the big players do.
Not necessarily dominate every point.
Not necessarily play flawless tennis.
They survive.
They find something when the match is disappearing.
And somehow, when everybody else is tightening up, Alcaraz still manages to look as though he’s enjoying himself.
There are players who make tennis look difficult.
Carlos sometimes makes ridiculously difficult tennis look like he’s playing in the garden.
The drop shot to finish it?
Cheeky.
Brave.
Very Carlos.
Simply Sublime for: saving two match points and somehow still making tennis look fun.
Casper Ruud & Alexander Zverev 6–4, 7–6(7) Alexander Bublik & Brandon Nakashima
One match left.
Score tied 5–5.
Two points waiting.
And suddenly the doubles wasn’t the little extra at the end of the evening.
It was enormous.
Europe went with Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev.
Team World sent out Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima.
And I liked Europe’s response here.
Zverev had suffered that painful singles defeat earlier in the day.
He could have carried it with him.
Instead, back onto court he came.
Different partner.
Different discipline.
Same objective.
Win.
Europe took the first set 6–4.
The second was considerably tighter, eventually reaching a tiebreak.
Ruud and Zverev edged it 9–7.
Straight sets.
Two points.
And suddenly Europe had turned a 3–5 deficit into a 7–5 overnight lead.
That was a huge finish to the day.
And psychologically?
Very important.
Because Team World had spent much of Saturday looking as though they might take control of this Laver Cup.
Europe refused to let them.
Simply Sublime for: Zverev returning after singles heartbreak and helping Europe finish the night on top.
The Scoreboard Tells Only Half the Story
After two days:
TEAM EUROPE 7 – 5 TEAM WORLD
That looks close.
Because it is.
But what I loved about Day 2 was how many times the momentum changed.
Europe started ahead.
Tien levelled it.
De Minaur put World in front.
Alcaraz dragged Europe back.
Then Ruud and Zverev pushed Europe ahead again.
That’s not simply four tennis matches.
That’s a sporting story unfolding across an entire day.
And this format makes every match increasingly important.
Friday wins were worth one point.
Saturday wins were worth two.
Sunday?
Three points per victory.
Which means 7–5 is absolutely nothing.
One match on Sunday can change everything.
Brilliant format.
Cruel format.
Wonderful television.
My Player of Day 2?
This is difficult.
Learner Tien deserves enormous credit.
Alex de Minaur produced the comeback of the day.
Zverev showed impressive resilience by returning to win the doubles after losing such a painful singles match.
But I’m going with…
Carlos Alcaraz.
Not because he played perfect tennis.
He didn’t.
I’m choosing him because of the situation.
Europe were behind.
Fritz was playing superbly.
Two match points came and went.
And Alcaraz somehow found a way.
Sometimes the difference between great players and exceptional players isn’t what they do when everything is working.
It’s what they do when everything is about to go wrong.
Carlos survived.
And Europe needed him to.
De Minaur Deserves His Flowers
I have to come back to Alex de Minaur.
Because what an athlete.
He was a set down against one of the world’s very best players.
Zverev had looked dominant.
And De Minaur simply refused to disappear.
Speed.
Fight.
Energy.
Courage.
He even ended up diving around the court during the deciding breaker.
This is exactly the kind of player you want in a team competition.
The man plays every point as though somebody has told him Australia gets an extra public holiday if he wins.
You cannot dislike that commitment.
And What About Learner Tien?
Remember the name.
Twenty years old.
Laver Cup debut.
Two points needed.
Match goes to a deciding breaker.
Wins it.
No drama.
No panic.
Just gets the job done.
There are certain sporting events where young players announce themselves to a much bigger audience.
This felt like one of those moments.
Agassi vs Noah Adds Something Special
I also love watching the captains.
Andre Agassi for Team World.
Yannick Noah for Team Europe.
Two enormous personalities.
Two Grand Slam champions.
And two men who absolutely do not look like they are there merely for the photographs.
They’re involved.
They’re talking to players.
They’re reacting.
They’re strategising.
They’re living every point.
The benches are part of what separates Laver Cup tennis from almost everything else on the calendar.
Normally your opponent is alone.
Here?
You’ve got an entire squad staring back at you.
It adds pressure.
It adds theatre.
It adds emotion.
And sport needs emotion.
Day 3 Is Going to Be Delicious
Europe lead 7–5.
First team to 13 wins the Laver Cup.
And every Sunday victory is worth three points.
Do the maths.
Actually, don’t.
You’ll only make yourself nervous.
Team Europe have the lead.
Team World are absolutely still alive.
And after what happened on Day 2, I wouldn’t confidently predict anything.
That’s the beauty of it.
One match.
Three points.
Momentum changes.
Another match.
Suddenly the entire competition looks different.
My Day 2 Verdict
Day 1 introduced the characters.
Day 2 gave us the drama.
Learner Tien announced himself.
Alex de Minaur refused to lose.
Taylor Fritz came agonisingly close to producing another enormous Laver Cup moment.
Carlos Alcaraz saved Europe when they desperately needed him.
And Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev finished the evening by putting Team Europe back in front.
Europe 7. World 5.
Nothing settled.
Everything waiting for Sunday.
Exactly how the Laver Cup should be.
Tennis with teammates.
Tennis with pressure.
Tennis with personality.
And tennis where suddenly every single point feels important.
Bring on Day 3.
If it’s anything like Day 2, make the coffee, clear the diary and find a comfortable seat.
Because this Laver Cup is cooking.
And Saturday at The O2?
Simply Sublime.
Laver Cup 2026 Day 2 Review – Drama, Comebacks and Alcaraz Magic in London
There are good days of tennis.
There are very good days of tennis.
And then there are days when the Laver Cup decides that everybody’s blood pressure has been far too comfortable lately.
Day 2 in London was one of those days.
Team Europe walked into The O2 with a 3–1 advantage.
By the end of Saturday night?
Europe 7. Team World 5.
Everything still alive.
Everything still beautifully uncomfortable.
And with two points available for every victory on Day 2, there was absolutely nowhere to hide.
This wasn’t polite Saturday afternoon tennis.
This was Laver Cup tennis.
And it was Simply Sublime.
Learner Tien 6–3, 2–6, 10–7 Flavio Cobolli
Team World strikes first.
What a way to begin Day 2.
Learner Tien may have been making his Laver Cup debut, but somebody apparently forgot to tell him he was supposed to look nervous.
The 20-year-old American came out beautifully composed against Flavio Cobolli and took the opening set 6–3.
Cobolli wasn’t disappearing quietly.
The Italian responded exactly as you would expect, taking the second set 6–2 and sending us into the Laver Breaker.
First match of the day.
Already a deciding tiebreak.
Of course.
Welcome to the Laver Cup.
And this was where Tien impressed me most.
At 20 years old, with the scoreboard tight, the crowd involved and two enormously valuable points sitting there waiting for somebody to grab them, he stayed composed.
10–7.
Match Tien.
Two points Team World.
And suddenly Europe’s comfortable overnight advantage had disappeared.
3–3.
Game on.
This is precisely why I enjoy the Laver Cup.
A player who might not ordinarily command the biggest headline walks into this format and suddenly finds himself playing one of the most important matches of the weekend.
Tien didn’t merely participate.
He delivered.
Simply Sublime for: composure under pressure.
Alex de Minaur 2–6, 7–6(5), 11–9 Alexander Zverev
Now THIS was Laver Cup.
Alexander Zverev started like a man who had dinner reservations.
The German dominated the opening set 6–2 and looked completely in control.
Powerful.
Confident.
Clinical.
De Minaur?
Apparently just warming up.
Because Alex de Minaur does not understand the concept of going away quietly.
He runs.
Then he runs some more.
Then you hit what appears to be a winner and somehow this Australian appears on the other side of the court returning it.
At some stage you begin wondering whether there are actually two Alex de Minaurs.
The second set became a proper fight.
De Minaur dragged it into a tiebreak and took it 7–5.
Another Laver Breaker.
Naturally.
And then things became ridiculous.
Zverev led.
De Minaur fought back.
Zverev had match point at 9–8.
De Minaur saved it.
Then the Australian earned his opportunity.
11–9.
Done.
What a comeback.
What a competitor.
What a match.
Team World had suddenly turned a 1–3 overnight deficit into a 5–3 lead.
The momentum had completely changed.
Andre Agassi and the Team World bench were loving it.
Europe?
Not quite so much.
And that is when the Laver Cup becomes fascinating.
Because you’re not merely playing for yourself.
You’ve got teammates sitting metres away living every point with you.
Captains talking.
Players shouting.
Everybody invested.
Tennis suddenly becomes a team sport.
And I love it.
Simply Sublime for: refusing to accept that the match was gone.
Carlos Alcaraz 6–3, 4–6, 13–11 Taylor Fritz
And then Carlos arrived.
If you’re going to put Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz on a tennis court at The O2 with two precious Laver Cup points available, perhaps don’t make any plans for afterwards.
This one was going to be fun.
Alcaraz took the opening set 6–3.
Fritz responded.
6–4.
And yes…
You know what’s coming.
Another Laver Breaker.
At this point they might as well have renamed Saturday National Laver Breaker Day.
But this one was different.
This one was magnificent.
Alcaraz moved ahead.
Fritz fought back.
The American then found himself with not one but two match points.
Imagine being Team Europe at that moment.
Already trailing 5–3.
Your superstar staring at defeat.
Team World potentially about to move significantly ahead.
And standing across the net is Taylor Fritz, the same man who beat Alcaraz at the 2025 Laver Cup.
Pressure?
Just a little.
Alcaraz saved the first.
Then the second.
And eventually…
13–11.
Carlos Alcaraz.
Match Europe.
5–5.
The O2 erupted.
This is what the big players do.
Not necessarily dominate every point.
Not necessarily play flawless tennis.
They survive.
They find something when the match is disappearing.
And somehow, when everybody else is tightening up, Alcaraz still manages to look as though he’s enjoying himself.
There are players who make tennis look difficult.
Carlos sometimes makes ridiculously difficult tennis look like he’s playing in the garden.
The drop shot to finish it?
Cheeky.
Brave.
Very Carlos.
Simply Sublime for: saving two match points and somehow still making tennis look fun.
Casper Ruud & Alexander Zverev 6–4, 7–6(7) Alexander Bublik & Brandon Nakashima
One match left.
Score tied 5–5.
Two points waiting.
And suddenly the doubles wasn’t the little extra at the end of the evening.
It was enormous.
Europe went with Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev.
Team World sent out Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima.
And I liked Europe’s response here.
Zverev had suffered that painful singles defeat earlier in the day.
He could have carried it with him.
Instead, back onto court he came.
Different partner.
Different discipline.
Same objective.
Win.
Europe took the first set 6–4.
The second was considerably tighter, eventually reaching a tiebreak.
Ruud and Zverev edged it 9–7.
Straight sets.
Two points.
And suddenly Europe had turned a 3–5 deficit into a 7–5 overnight lead.
That was a huge finish to the day.
And psychologically?
Very important.
Because Team World had spent much of Saturday looking as though they might take control of this Laver Cup.
Europe refused to let them.
Simply Sublime for: Zverev returning after singles heartbreak and helping Europe finish the night on top.
The Scoreboard Tells Only Half the Story
After two days:
TEAM EUROPE 7 – 5 TEAM WORLD
That looks close.
Because it is.
But what I loved about Day 2 was how many times the momentum changed.
Europe started ahead.
Tien levelled it.
De Minaur put World in front.
Alcaraz dragged Europe back.
Then Ruud and Zverev pushed Europe ahead again.
That’s not simply four tennis matches.
That’s a sporting story unfolding across an entire day.
And this format makes every match increasingly important.
Friday wins were worth one point.
Saturday wins were worth two.
Sunday?
Three points per victory.
Which means 7–5 is absolutely nothing.
One match on Sunday can change everything.
Brilliant format.
Cruel format.
Wonderful television.
My Player of Day 2?
This is difficult.
Learner Tien deserves enormous credit.
Alex de Minaur produced the comeback of the day.
Zverev showed impressive resilience by returning to win the doubles after losing such a painful singles match.
But I’m going with…
Carlos Alcaraz.
Not because he played perfect tennis.
He didn’t.
I’m choosing him because of the situation.
Europe were behind.
Fritz was playing superbly.
Two match points came and went.
And Alcaraz somehow found a way.
Sometimes the difference between great players and exceptional players isn’t what they do when everything is working.
It’s what they do when everything is about to go wrong.
Carlos survived.
And Europe needed him to.
De Minaur Deserves His Flowers
I have to come back to Alex de Minaur.
Because what an athlete.
He was a set down against one of the world’s very best players.
Zverev had looked dominant.
And De Minaur simply refused to disappear.
Speed.
Fight.
Energy.
Courage.
He even ended up diving around the court during the deciding breaker.
This is exactly the kind of player you want in a team competition.
The man plays every point as though somebody has told him Australia gets an extra public holiday if he wins.
You cannot dislike that commitment.
And What About Learner Tien?
Remember the name.
Twenty years old.
Laver Cup debut.
Two points needed.
Match goes to a deciding breaker.
Wins it.
No drama.
No panic.
Just gets the job done.
There are certain sporting events where young players announce themselves to a much bigger audience.
This felt like one of those moments.
Agassi vs Noah Adds Something Special
I also love watching the captains.
Andre Agassi for Team World.
Yannick Noah for Team Europe.
Two enormous personalities.
Two Grand Slam champions.
And two men who absolutely do not look like they are there merely for the photographs.
They’re involved.
They’re talking to players.
They’re reacting.
They’re strategising.
They’re living every point.
The benches are part of what separates Laver Cup tennis from almost everything else on the calendar.
Normally your opponent is alone.
Here?
You’ve got an entire squad staring back at you.
It adds pressure.
It adds theatre.
It adds emotion.
And sport needs emotion.
Day 3 Is Going to Be Delicious
Europe lead 7–5.
First team to 13 wins the Laver Cup.
And every Sunday victory is worth three points.
Do the maths.
Actually, don’t.
You’ll only make yourself nervous.
Team Europe have the lead.
Team World are absolutely still alive.
And after what happened on Day 2, I wouldn’t confidently predict anything.
That’s the beauty of it.
One match.
Three points.
Momentum changes.
Another match.
Suddenly the entire competition looks different.
My Day 2 Verdict
Day 1 introduced the characters.
Day 2 gave us the drama.
Learner Tien announced himself.
Alex de Minaur refused to lose.
Taylor Fritz came agonisingly close to producing another enormous Laver Cup moment.
Carlos Alcaraz saved Europe when they desperately needed him.
And Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev finished the evening by putting Team Europe back in front.
Europe 7. World 5.
Nothing settled.
Everything waiting for Sunday.
Exactly how the Laver Cup should be.
Tennis with teammates.
Tennis with pressure.
Tennis with personality.
And tennis where suddenly every single point feels important.
Bring on Day 3.
If it’s anything like Day 2, make the coffee, clear the diary and find a comfortable seat.
Because this Laver Cup is cooking.
And Saturday at The O2?
Simply Sublime.
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