Tommy Paul will not play the Laver Cup. The American withdrew on Saturday, 12 September, with the elbow injury he carried out of the US Open, and Francisco Cerúndolo takes his place on Andre Agassi’s Team World for the ninth edition of the event, at The O2 from 25 to 27 September.
Paul‘s last match was a straight-sets loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round in New York. It is the second year running that he has left the US Open hurt and had to be replaced on the team. Cerúndolo arrives for his fourth consecutive Laver Cup. The Argentine also reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, beating Taylor Fritz before losing to Alexander Blockx, and he has won two titles this season, in Buenos Aires and at Queen’s.
The change alters the look of Agassi’s side. When the rosters closed in July, four of Team World’s six players were American. Now there are three.
The teams. Team Europe, captained by Yannick Noah with Tim Henman as vice-captain: Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli, Casper Ruud, Jakub Mensik and Rafael Jodar, who makes his Laver Cup debut.
Team World, captained by Andre Agassi with Pat Rafter as vice-captain: Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Bublik, Learner Tien, Cerúndolo and Brandon Nakashima, who replaced Ben Shelton on 17 September and makes his Laver Cup debut.
Shelton, the US Open runner-up, withdrew on Thursday, 17 September, while in Prague to play Davis Cup for the United States. No reason was given. Our report on the change is here. Zverev, who beat him 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 in the final in New York, arrives in London 12 days after it.
The schedule. All times are London time (BST), with U.S. Eastern and Central in brackets.
- Friday, 25 September — Day session at 1 p.m. (8 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. CT): two singles matches. Night session at 7 p.m. (2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT): one singles match, then doubles.
- Saturday, 26 September — Same structure: day session at 1 p.m., night session at 7 p.m.
- Sunday, 27 September — One session at 12 p.m. (7 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. CT): doubles, followed by up to three singles matches if they are needed.
Friday’s lineup is announced on Thursday afternoon. The Saturday and Sunday lineups are announced an hour after the previous night’s play ends. The organizers note that a night session can start late if the day session runs long.
The format. Twelve matches are scheduled, nine singles and three doubles, with every match played on the same indoor hard court. A win is worth one point on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday, so 24 points are available and the first team to 13 wins the cup. If the teams finish the 12 matches tied at 12-12, a deciding doubles match is played as a single set with advantage scoring and a tiebreak. If Sunday’s first match settles the result, an exhibition follows the trophy ceremony.
The escalating scoring is why no lead is safe going into the weekend. A team that sweeps all four Friday matches has four points; a single Sunday singles is worth three.
How to watch. Tennis Channel is listed as the U.S. broadcaster. Tennis TV does not carry the Laver Cup. Broadcasters in other territories are listed on the organizers’ official viewing guide. The organizers also stream a free Bench Cam of both team benches at LaverCup.com/benchcam.
Where it stands. Team World are the defending champions after beating Europe 15-9 in San Francisco last September, their third title. Europe lead the series 5-3. The event returns to The O2 for the first time since 2022, when Roger Federer played the last match of his career there. The 10th edition moves to the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles in September 2027.
The Laver Cup week overlaps the ATP 250 events in Chengdu and Hangzhou, the first stops of the Asian swing. The men who make the trip to London will go straight on to Beijing, Tokyo and Shanghai, where the points that decide the Race to Turin are still on offer.
