Zverev Caps His Best Season by Clinching the Laver Cup for Europe

Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to play the third match on Sunday in London. He never had to. Alexander Zverev ended the Laver Cup first.

Zverev beat Learner Tien 7-6 (3), 6-3, and that gave Team Europe 13 points, the number needed to win, with three matches still to play. The final score was 13-5.

It was a bounce-back for Zverev, whose nine-match singles winning streak ended with a loss to Alex de Minaur on Saturday. He has had the year of his life, winning his first two majors at the French Open and the US Open. Tien, ranked 13th, had beaten Flavio Cobolli in his Laver Cup debut the day before.

Cobolli and Jakub Mensik set it up earlier Sunday by beating de Minaur and Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-3 in doubles. Alcaraz had done his part already, winning a doubles match with Mensik on Friday and beating Fritz in singles on Saturday.

Team World won last year in San Francisco. Europe has now won six of the nine editions. The scoring rises through the weekend: matches are worth one point on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday, and the first team to 13 wins.