SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – World number one Carlos Alcaraz returned to the court in the wake of his United States (US) Open triumph yesterday when he headlines a Team Europe side aiming to retain the Laver Cup title against Team World.

This year’s edition of the global tennis showdown will see some changes at Chase Arena, home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

France’s Yannick Noah takes over from Bjorn Borg as captain of Team Europe while American Andre Agassi is the new captain of Team World, succeeding John McEnroe.

Europe are defending the title they won last year in Berlin. They have won five of the first seven editions, although Team World triumphed the last time the competition co-created by Swiss great Roger Federer was held in North America, in Vancouver in 2023.

Europe won’t have world number two Jannik Sinner or fourth-ranked superstar Novak Djokovic. But Noah captains a strong lineup that also features world number three Alxander Zverev of Germany, Denmark’s Holger Rune, Norway’s Casper Ruud, Czech Jakub Mensik and Italian Flavio Cobolli.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin