Carlos Alcaraz will front Team Europe at the 2026 Laver Cup as the side attempts to take back the trophy, with Team World aware of how difficult the matchup has been for every member of their squad.

“We will do everything possible to bring the title back to Europe. We failed last year, so we’ll do everything we can to reclaim the trophy,” the world No 3 said after arriving in London for the ninth edition of the event.

Alcaraz is set to line up alongside world No 2 and two-time Grand Slam winner Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Jodar, Jakub Mensik and Casper Ruud.

Team World will be represented by Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien, Brandon Nakashima, Alexander Bublik and Francisco Cerundolo at the O2 Arena.

Last season in San Francisco, Team World won the event 15-9 for their fourth title in five years. Even so, Team Europe still hold the overall edge in the rivalry, leading 5-3.

For Alcaraz, this will be his third Laver Cup appearance, and his record in the competition remains strong. He has lost only one singles match, and across the ATP Tour he holds a commanding head-to-head advantage over all six Team World players.

In his 2024 debut, the Spaniard beat Ben Shelton and Fritz. A year later, Fritz defeated him before Alcaraz responded by beating Cerundolo to finish with a 3-1 record.

Against the six Team World players combined, Alcaraz has played 19 matches and lost only once, leaving him with an 18-1 record. That lone defeat came against Fritz at the 2025 tournament.

His head-to-heads show the same pattern. He leads Fritz 5-1, de Minaur 6-0, Cerundolo 4-0, Nakashima 2-0 and Bublik 1-0. He has not yet played Tien.

Team World may at least draw some encouragement from Alcaraz’s most recent defeat, which came against Ben Shelton at the US Open in four sets. Shelton was initially due to play in London, but withdrew after a demanding spell that included a runner-up finish at the US Open a fortnight ago and a Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic last week.

Reports from Italy suggest Jannik Sinner may not play the Asian swing at all, with the issue now centered on how he and his team choose to map out the rest of the season. Former Italian player Stefano Pescosolido, now an analyst for Sky Sports Italia, outlined the possibility that Sinner could bypass the entire stretch and return later in the autumn.

“There are two options: Beijing and Shanghai, or starting with the indoor tournaments,” said Pescolido. “Last year’s Chinese ATP Masters 1000 tournament saw some tricky conditions, and he withdrew due to cramp.

“He might skip the Asian leg and return via Vienna, to be ready for the ATP Finals, in order to plan for the following year as effectively as possible.”

Sinner is presently expected to be the top seed at the China Open, where he is also the defending champion. If he takes part, he would begin as the clear player to beat, despite arriving with an injury.

If he does step away from the event, Alexander Zverev would move to the top seed position at the ATP 500 tournament and would become the leading title contender. The German has already benefited this season when top names were absent from major events, winning Roland Garros without Carlos Alcaraz and then capturing a Sinner -less US Open to become a two-time Grand Slam champion.

A withdrawal would also reshape the race to world No 1. Sinner would lose 500 ranking points if he does not contest the China Open, while Zverev would be defending only 60 points after reaching the quarterfinals in 2025.

The draw would still include Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur, Novak Djokovic, and Jakub Mensik, but Zverev has already shown in 2026 that he can handle strong opposition among the rest.

He has never won the China Open, although he has reached the semifinals three times. He was beaten by Nick Kyrgios in 2017, Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019, and Medvedev in the 2023 season. Another title run would give him a new first in his career.

Darwin Blanch has been viewed for some time as one of the leading young talents in men’s tennis, and the American has now taken a significant step forward on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Blanch, who made his Masters debut as a 16-year-old against Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Madrid Open, has been building his way through Challenger events and has now claimed his first ATP 125 title at the Tiburon Challenger in the United States.

The 18-year-old beat Michael Mmoh 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final, a result that made him the youngest American to win an ATP 125 title. The victory has also lifted him to world No 160 and moved him up to sixth in the race to qualify for the NextGen Finals at the end of the year.

Blanch’s progress has been followed closely by Carlos Alcaraz, who has been a long-time admirer of the American. The two have practised together often, particularly at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy, when both were still prospects.

Ahead of Blanch’s 2024 meeting with Nadal in Madrid, Alcaraz spoke warmly about his level. “I’ve practised with him a few times in the academy. I know that he has good tennis. He plays very well for his age,” said Alcaraz, when Blanch was just 16.

Asked what advice he offered before the match against the King of Clay, Alcaraz said: “I told him just to enjoy the moment [against Nadal]. This moment is going to be really helpful to his career.

“It was really important to mine, when I faced [Nadal] in 2021 for the first time. I learned a lot from that match and living that experience was really helpful. Just to try and enjoy the moment and give himself the opportunity to enjoy and get experience.”

Blanch now heads to San Diego for another Challenger event immediately after his title run. He is scheduled to face compatriot JJ Wolf in the round of 32 on Tuesday, 21st September.

His 2026 season has already included ATP-level appearances in Winston-Salem and at the US Open, both on wildcards. He lost in straight sets to Rinky Hijikata in Winston-Salem and then fell to Taylor Fritz by the same scoreline in the first round of the US Open.