Laver Cup Day Two: Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune suffer shock losses as Team Europe's lead evaporates

Day two of the Laver Cup is underway, and Team World has managed to turn the series around after the first two singles matches of the day. Alex de Minaur and Francisco Cerúndolo each secured straight-set victories, adding four crucial points to their team's score and giving Team World the lead.

The Australian de Minaur comfortably defeated Alexander Zverev (6-1, 6-4), evening the series for Team World at the start of the second day [3-3]. In the second match, the Argentine Cerúndolo showed his greater experience in this tournament and defeated the debutant Holger Rune (6-3, 7-6), putting Team World ahead for the first time in the 2025 edition [5-3].

It's worth remembering that the Laver Cup scoring system awards one point for each match won on Friday, two points for each match won on Saturday, and a total of three points for each match on Sunday. There are three singles matches and one doubles match on each day, so the first team to reach 13 points will be this year's champion.

On day one, Ruud and Menšík won their singles matches, while João Fonseca got a point for Team World in the third match. In the doubles, Europe's Alcaraz/Menšík defeated Fritz and Michelsen, putting Europe in a strong position after the first day. However, Team World—led by Andre Agassi—managed to turn the series around in the first two matches on Saturday. Now the pressure is on Carlos Alcaraz to seek a win to even the series, or Taylor Fritz to extend the Rest of the World's lead before the day ends with the doubles match.

Alex de Minaur (No. 8) managed to close the gap in his head-to-head record against Alexander Zverev (No. 3) in what was their 11th meeting. The Australian dominated the match from start to finish and maintained his advantage in both sets, closing out the victory 6-1, 6-4. This not only gave Team World parity in the series (a temporary 3-3 score) but also reduced the head-to-head deficit against Zverev, who now leads 8-3. Interestingly, all three of their encounters in team tournaments have been wins for de Minaur, who had previously defeated him at the ATP Cup and United Cup.

It only took de Minaur an hour and 30 minutes to secure the win against a Zverev who was particularly inefficient with his serve. The German had a remarkable 84% first-serve percentage, but he only won 48% of those points. On the other hand, de Minaur's consistency was clear, with a 70% first-serve percentage and winning 67% of those points. The Australian capitalized on three breaks (compared to just one for his opponent) and took advantage of Sascha's constant unforced errors. Zverev never managed to find his rhythm and suffered a surprising defeat on the second day.

There had only been one previous match between Cerúndolo (No. 21) and Rune (No. 11), a tight five-set win for the Dane at Roland Garros in 2023. This time, the Argentine got his revenge, playing at an incredibly high level. The South American was especially aggressive, hitting 30 winners to his opponent's 20.

However, it wasn't just winners that gave Cerúndolo the victory. The Argentine was constantly pressuring his opponent from the return, getting a break halfway through the first set and then holding on to his serve to take a comfortable 6-3 lead. In the second set, things leveled out, and Rune came close to a break several times, but Cerúndolo managed to get out of every risky situation. The Dane even squandered a set point on the return when he led 6-5, and everything came down to a tiebreak, where Cerúndolo took an early lead and held onto his serve to close out the 6-3, 7-6(5) victory and give Team World another win.

Surprisingly, Team World took the lead despite a disadvantageous start on Friday. The first two singles matches gave them a total of four points, making the score a temporary 5-3, with two matches still to be played today. The third match of the day will be between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. This will be the Spaniard's first singles match since returning to world No. 1 after winning the US Open a couple of weeks ago. Carlos is the favorite and will be looking to even the series before everything goes to the doubles match that will close the day.

In the doubles to close the day, the Scandinavian duo of Casper Ruud and Holger Rune will face off. Rune will be back on the court for the second time today to face Alex Michelsen and Alex de Minaur (another player who will be on the court twice in one day). This will undoubtedly be a key match that could start to tip the balance in favor of one of the teams.