ATP Tour

Alcaraz & Mensik win, join Jodar in giving Team Europe Laver Cup lead

After a sluggish start to his 2026 Laver Cup campaign, Carlos Alcaraz found another gear alongside Jakub Mensik on Friday evening to cap the opening night with a doubles victory and give Team Europe a 3-1 lead over Team World.

Alcaraz and Mensik closed out the session with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Alexander Bublik and Taylor Fritz inside The O2, adding to Rafael Jodar’s earlier dismantling of Bublik while also avenging Mensik's three-set defeat to Brandon Nakashima. Team Europe will therefore take a two-point advantage into Saturday’s play as they look to reclaim the trophy from Team World.

In his first service game at 1-2, Alcaraz hit a double fault en route to falling to a 0/40 hole. Yet the 23-year-old Spaniard, known for his singles exploits, produced an impressive escape in that game, and he and Mensik later combined to ignite the London crowd and European teammates alike.

"I'm just trying to have fun in every place that I go and on every court that I play on," Alcaraz said. "I don't usually play doubles... I just try to enjoy and be better at things. I use doubles to try and improve my tennis, a couple of adjustments. Having a partner like Jakub, it's really easy to have fun on the court."

Alcaraz was at the heart of one of the points of the match to break for 4-3 in the first set, when he tracked back to cover Mensik before clipping the ball back and later finishing the point with an overhead winner. Alcaraz and Mensik now own a 2-0 team record in doubles, having combined to beat Alex Michelsen and Fritz at last year’s Laver Cup in San Francisco.

Earlier on Friday evening, Jodar added a Laver Cup debut win to his stunning 2026 surge by defeating Bublik 6-2, 6-3.

Eight days after his 20th birthday, the #NextGenATP Spaniard delivered a largely dominant performance to prevail in one hour, 24 minutes and put Team Europe 2-1 up against Team World at The O2. The victory comes in the midst of an eye-catching first season on the ATP Tour for Jodar, who now boasts a 38-15 tour-level record in 2026, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Bublik had his chances in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Jodar, notably at 1-1, 30/40 on the Spaniard's serve. But the Kazakhstani, also making his Laver Cup debut, slipped to the ground after attempting to rush forward, leaving Jodar free to plant the ball into the open court and save break point.

From there, Jodar put his foot on the gas and, although he let slip a break in the second set for 4-1, he always had control. The No. 14 player in the PIF ATP Rankings won eight of his final nine service points to seal victory in front of 20-time major champion Roger Federer and Australian great Rod Laver.

“I also want to thank Roger, who was in the stands watching me,” Jodar said. “It’s a pleasure that he is in the stands, and also Rod Laver, whom the tournament is named after. It’s a pleasure to see him watching these types of matches, so thank you guys for being here.”