Ben Shelton plays Jiri Lehecka in Prague on Friday afternoon, in the second singles rubber of the Davis Cup tie between Czechia and the United States. He will not be at The O2 next week. Laver Cup organizers announced on Thursday that Shelton has withdrawn from Team World and that Brandon Nakashima replaces him.
No reason was given. The Associated Press, which reported the change, noted that Shelton is playing for his country this week, less than a week after he lost the US Open final to Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. That final lifted him to a career-high No. 4.
It is the second September running that Shelton has come off Andre Agassi’s roster. Last year he retired from his US Open third-round match against Adrian Mannarino with a shoulder injury at two sets all, and Alex Michelsen and Reilly Opelka replaced him and Tommy Paul in San Francisco, according to the ATP Tour.
A first call-up. Nakashima, 25, is ranked 16th and makes his Laver Cup debut. He went 13-4 across the North American hard-court swing this summer, reaching his first Masters 1000 final in Montreal and the semifinals in Cincinnati the following week, according to the ATP Tour and the organizers. “It’s an event I’ve always dreamed of playing,” he said in the organizers’ announcement.
Team World now. Two of the six players Agassi named in July have gone since the US Open ended, and both were Americans. Paul withdrew on 12 September with the elbow injury he carried out of New York, and Francisco Cerúndolo took his place. The team is now Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Bublik, Learner Tien, Cerúndolo and Nakashima, with Pat Rafter as vice-captain. Three of the six are still American.
Team Europe is unchanged. Captain Yannick Noah has Carlos Alcaraz, Zverev, Flavio Cobolli, Casper Ruud, Jakub Mensik and Rafael Jodar. Two of the 12 open the Prague tie against each other on Friday: Mensik plays Tien in the first rubber, a rematch of their five-set third-round match at Flushing Meadows. Our preview of the tie is here.
When and where. The Laver Cup runs from 25 to 27 September. Play on Friday the 25th starts at 1 p.m. in London, 8 a.m. ET and 7 a.m. CT, and Tennis Channel is listed as the U.S. broadcaster. Team World are the defending champions after beating Europe 15-9 in San Francisco last year, and Europe lead the series 5-3. The full schedule, format and viewing guide are in our Laver Cup 2026 preview, and every result since 2017 is in our list of Laver Cup winners.
