There is plenty of attention on men’s after yet another Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner Grand Slam final. Now, the best some of the leading ATP stars are scheduled to square off in Laver Cup team play in San Francisco starting Friday, September 19, 2025. But there will be a number of significant absences.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur, ranked #8 in the world is skipping Laver Cup. His absence is likely because he is playing, in another team play event over 7,000 miles from San Francisco. Along with his Australian teammates, de Minaur will play in the Davis Cup play Sydney Australia. This Davis Cup tie ends just a few days before Laver Cup practice sessions begin.
As of early Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to lead Team Spain against a Holger Rune led Team Denmark in Davis Cup play this week. Alcaraz dropped out after winning the US Open. Just a few days later, Alcaraz and Rune will be teammates on Team Europe in the Laver Cup. Alcaraz and Rune were supposed to be foes one week and friends the next. Alcaraz remains scheduled to play Laver Cup, but who knows what is coming.
Great players will be missing and casual fans will be confused because the two biggest team events in male tennis are being played in consecutive weeks in locations all around the world.
The Two Events
The Davis Cup is a legendary, country-based team event which tennis traditionalists love. Started in 1900 as a competition between the United States and Great Britain, the event now welcomes teams from over 150 nations. The current iteration of the event has 14 teams playing qualifying ties on September 12-14. The winners the advance to the Finals in Italy in November.
Some of the world’s best are not playing Davis Cup because their country is not scheduled to play whilst others, like highly ranked American stars Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will be leading their national teams. This historic event should hold this spot on the calendar, just after the season’s final Grand Slam event and played on-site in host countries, should continue to produce exciting and dramatic tennis.
The Laver Cup burst onto the professional team tennis scene in 2017 but lost momentum as growing premier event within a few years. Held over one weekend, a team of stars from Europe takes on Team World in a mix of singles and doubles. The tremendous drama of the first two editions of this event have not been built with top players skipping the event. The tournament hasn’t been helped by the Laver Cup organisers keeping some rules that should be changed. Still, when at its’ best, the Laver Cup atmosphere rivals many great events.
Who Is Missing in 2025
The absence of de Minaur at the Laver Cup and Alcaraz at the Davis Cup are but a few of the several that will be felt over the next two weekends. World #3 Alexander Zverev will play Laver Cup, but not Davis Cup. Likely due to wear and tear young European stars Sinner, Jack Draper, and Lorenzo Mussetti, will not play Laver Cup. They are ranked among the Top 10 players in the world. The Laver Cup official website even struggles to keep up as they still post articles reporting that Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton will play, even thought neither are on Team World’s roster.
Showing grit and respect for team events, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are all world Top 20 players who will manage the worldwide travel and wear and tear to play in both events. Hopefully, they will be able to keep intensity and attitude that are needed to make both events seem like more than exhibition tennis.
Changes to Make
Laver Cup supporters long hoped to see this event as the tennis version of golf’s Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup will be played two weeks after the Laver Cup. ALL of the world’s top 10 players are playing. For many golfers, the Ryder Cup is the most important event they can play.
The first change for the Laver Cup is to switch to holding it once every two years. Absence can, after all, make the heart grow fonder. Additionally players will be ready to commit to the weekend if it is not an annual event. Of course, every other year means a little less money, so….
As the relative new comer to the calendar, the Laver Cup needs to move dates. If the every other year format is adopted it will be played in Europe only once every four years. Maybe just after the clay court season or just after Roland Garros. This could help draw fans and players although it would clash with the grass-court swing. The World hosting dates will be a bit more tricky. North American dates could be just before the summer hard court season that leads to the US Open just before Indian Wells in March.
Ultimately, for those concerned about the regular ATP schedule, it is worth remembering that this is once every four years.
Federer Can Help
Ultimately, for the Laver Cup and Davis Cup to successful co-exist, the biggest names in the game must feel these events are worth giving more than lip service to these events. It was a great move to install the charismatic Andre Agassi as Team World Laver Cup Captain. Roger Federer, part owner of the Laver Cup, needs to take a more visible role in encouraging the best players to play. Federer taking over Team Europe captaincy himself would surely compel more top players to play. It would also spur more fan interest. If he is serious about making the Laver Cup a top tier event, the time for this move is fast approaching – if it is not overdue
Tennis team play at its highest level is spectacular, especially with national and international teams. Events that purport to be top level, but don’t have the best players, fall short. It is time to recognize the changes needed before the events lose their luster.
Main photo credit: Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images
