Team Europe opens 3-1 lead over Team World on first night of Laver Cup

LONDON — Team Europe won three of four matches on the opening night of the 2026 Laver Cup, building a 3-1 lead over Team World at The O2 as the six-man European squad seeks to reclaim a trophy it lost a year ago in San Francisco. Rafael Jodar, playing in his first Laver Cup, Casper Ruud and the doubles pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Jakub Mensik each delivered points for captain Yannick Noah's side on Friday.

The numbers

Ruud opened the session with a three-set comeback over Francisco Cerundolo, 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8, winning the deciding-set tiebreak that the event calls a Laver Breaker. Brandon Nakashima answered for Team World, outlasting Mensik 6-1, 3-6, 10-7 to briefly level the tie at 1-1. Jodar then put Europe back in front, beating Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 24 minutes, before Alcaraz and Mensik closed the night by defeating Bublik and Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in doubles. The official scoring page and a match-by-match recap from the ATP Tour both confirm the 3-1 scoreline.

• Match 1: Casper Ruud (Europe) def. Francisco Cerundolo (World), 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8
• Match 2: Brandon Nakashima (World) def. Jakub Mensik (Europe), 6-1, 3-6, 10-7
• Match 3: Rafael Jodar (Europe) def. Alexander Bublik (World), 6-2, 6-3
• Match 4 (doubles): Carlos Alcaraz/Jakub Mensik (Europe) def. Alexander Bublik/Taylor Fritz (World), 6-4, 6-4

Context

Under Laver Cup rules, each of Friday's four matches was worth one point, Saturday's four are worth two points apiece and Sunday's four singles matches are worth three points each, with the first team to 13 points winning the exhibition. Team World arrives in London defending the trophy after a 15-9 victory last September in San Francisco, its third title in four editions under captain Andre Agassi, who is entering his second year in the role opposite Noah, the longtime Team Europe captain. Both six-man rosters were reshaped by late injury withdrawals ahead of the event: Cerundolo replaced Tommy Paul, who is managing an elbow injury from this year's US Open, and Nakashima stepped in for Ben Shelton, who opted to rest after his US Open final run, according to Yahoo Sports. Alexander Zverev and Flavio Cobolli sat out Friday for Team Europe, while Alex de Minaur and Learner Tien did not play for Team World; all four are expected to feature when Saturday's session, which carries higher point values, begins at The O2. This is the second time London has hosted the event, after the 2022 edition at the same venue, which Team World won 13-8 in a tie remembered chiefly as Roger Federer's farewell to professional tennis.

Who is affected

Jodar's win was the marquee storyline of the day. The 20-year-old Spaniard has climbed from outside the top 800 in the ATP rankings a year ago to a career-high No. 14 this season, a rise the tournament chronicled in a player profile published ahead of the event. He was one of Noah's captain's picks for the European squad and defeated fellow debutant Bublik in straight sets in his first competitive match at the event, in front of a partisan crowd at The O2. Nakashima, also making his Laver Cup debut, entered the week at a career-high ranking of his own and kept Team World within striking distance with his win over Mensik, a result that mattered less for the scoreline than for showing Agassi's newest additions can hold their own on the event's biggest stage before the point values climb. For the veterans on both sides — Ruud on his fourth Laver Cup appearance, Alcaraz playing in front of a crowd that has followed his rise since his teenage years — Friday amounted to a foundation-laying night rather than a decisive one, given how much of the tie remains to be played.

What they said

"We were up 3-1 the first day last year... so now it's time to go rest and get ready for a good, interesting weekend," Noah said after Friday's session, a reference to Team Europe's identical overnight lead in 2025 before Team World rallied to win the title.

Jodar credited his composure in the biggest moments of his debut. "I think in the important points I played better today," he said afterward. Mensik, who partnered Alcaraz in the doubles win despite his singles loss to Nakashima, described the chemistry between the two young Europeans: "With Carlos, it's always about good energy. We complete each other pretty well on the court." Nakashima, for his part, said nerves gave way to focus once his match tightened. "When I lost the second set, I just tried to tell myself to fight for every point, to trust the guys on the bench and myself," he said. "I'm really happy with the win." Ruud thanked his bench for steadying him after dropping the opening set to Cerundolo, saying the team atmosphere kept him in the match through a tense deciding tiebreak.

What happens next

Play resumes Saturday at The O2 with four more matches worth two points each, followed by Sunday's four singles matches worth three points apiece — a format that has produced comebacks from deficits as large as the one Team World now faces. Team World needs to win the tie outright to keep the trophy in Agassi's hands for a fourth time in five years, while Noah's Europeans, who won the title in Berlin two years ago but surrendered it in San Francisco last September, will look to extend Friday's lead rather than relax into it, a caution Noah voiced himself by pointing back to last year's near-identical start before the title slipped away.