Carlos Alcaraz prepares for Laver Cup debut, Rod Laver visits practice, while Maria Sakkari shares family moments in Guadalajara

In a new "Daily Dose of Social Media," everything is ready for the start of the Laver Cup, with Carlos Alcaraz as the star after he shared several posts on his social media. The final day of training for the event featured a visit from the legend Rod Laver, who was there to watch his countrymen, Alex de Minaur and vice-captain Pat Rafter.

Meanwhile, the stars of the Billie Jean King Cup took on a reflexes challenge in the middle of the Finals, while Greece's Maria Sakkari shared some pictures of her time in Guadalajara with her family.

Carlos Alcaraz is preparing for his Laver Cup debut and shared some photos of his first days in San Francisco while participating in promotional activities for the event. The world No. 1 returns to represent Team Europe for the second consecutive year—this time as the leader of the world rankings with six major titles to his name. The Spaniard showed off his new blonde hair, practiced doubles with Alexander Zverev, and participated in a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge, among other moments he shared on social media.

The 22-year-old Spaniard will play his first matches after winning the US Open title—his second at Flushing Meadows—by defeating his rival, Jannik Sinner, in the final. Alcaraz climbed to the top of the rankings after securing his seventh title of the season and second Grand Slam. He will lead Team Europe—coached by Yannik Noah—this weekend in an effort to repeat their 2024 crown. This will be his last event before the Asian swing.

The Laver Cup practices featured a special guest today at the venue in San Francisco: an 11-time Grand Slam champion, Rod Laver—a two-time winner of the Calendar Grand Slam, meaning all four major tournaments in the same season. The 87-year-old Australian tennis legend was at the practice of his countryman, Alex De Minaur, and was accompanied by another Australian, former world No. 1 Pat Rafter, the vice-captain of Team World, led by Andre Agassi.

Laver took several photos with his countrymen and watched De Minaur's practice in person ahead of the start of the Laver Cup, the tournament that was named in his honor. The eighth edition of the tournament will take place starting this weekend.

Maria Sakkari shared a series of photos from her recent days with family and friends after competing at the Guadalajara Open. The Greek player has admitted several times that Mexico is one of her favourite destinations, and she took advantage of her WTA 500 stop in the Mexican city to spend quality time with her loved ones, leaving fans with a few snapshots from her North American tour.

The former World No. 3 unfortunately had an early exit at the tournament, falling in the first round to France’s Elsa Jacquemot 6-2, 6-0. That loss marked the end of her North American swing, which still included some encouraging results: a quarter-final run at the Washington Open and a third-round appearance at the US Open. Despite the disappointment in Guadalajara, Sakkari has managed to regain ground in the rankings over the past few months. She now sits at World No. 56 as she turns her focus to the Asian swing. Her next stop will be the Beijing Open next week, where she will aim to build on her momentum and climb further back up the WTA ladder.

While the Billie Jean King Cup is being played, the teams from the USA and Kazakhstan took on a reflexes challenge organized by the event. Players from both teams showed off their reflexes in a pre-match game before heading to the court for the quarterfinals. It was a tight series, where the Americans ultimately clinched the win in the decisive doubles match, with Taylor Townsend and Jessica Pegula defeating Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva.