How Does the Laver Cup 2026 Work? Europe vs World Format Explained

Team World and Team Europe will battle it out for the Laver Cup glory in the ninth edition of the tournament this weekend at the iconic The O2 arena in east London. The annual extravaganza, first held in 2017, sees six-man teams take on each other in a Ryder Cup-style event on indoor hard courts.

While Europe have won the championship five out of eight times previously, Team World have won it thrice in the last four events, including last year’s showdown in San Francisco. Some of the stars from Europe that will be in action this weekend are the Spanish sensation and former world number one Carlos Alcaraz and the 2026 French Open and US Open winner Alexander Zverev. For team world, Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz will be playing.

How does the Laver Cup work?

The annual event sees three days of some of the most exhilarating tennis, with three singles and one doubles match per day that are split into two different sessions during the first two days, i.e., afternoon and evening.

There are different points on offer each day. One point for each match contested on Friday, two points for the matches played on Saturday and three points for the Sunday matches. The team that reaches 13 points wins. And if the two teams are locked in at 12-12 at the end, the decider one-set doubles match will be played.

If only one match is required on Sunday, an exhibition will be played after the trophy ceremony. All the matches will be a best of three tie-break sets, with a 10 point tie-break instead of a full third set.

Laver Cup 2026 Matches Schedule (All timings are BST)

Friday - 25th September

Afternoon session (1pm start)

• Match 1 – singles
• Match 2 – singles

Evening session (7pm star)

• Match 3 – singles
• Match 4 – doubles

Saturday 26 September

Afternoon session (1pm start)

• Match 5 – singles
• Match 6 – singles

Evening session (7pm start)

• Match 7 – singles
• Match 8 – doubles

Sunday 27 September

Day session (12pm start)

• Match 9 – doubles
• Match 10 – singles
• Match 11 – singles
• Match 12 – singles

Laver Cup 2026 - Teams

Team Europe

Captain: Yannick Noah / Vice Captain: Tim Henman

• Alexander Zverev
• Carlos Alcaraz
• Flavio Cobolli
• Rafael Jodar
• Jakub Mensik
• Casper Ruud
• Arthur Fery (alternate)

Team World

Captain: Andre Agassi / Vice-Captain: Pat Rafter

• Alex de Minaur
• Taylor Fritz
• Brandon Nakashima
• Alexander Bublik
• Learner Tien
• Francisco Cerundolo
• Ignacio Buse (alternate)