{"id":90898,"date":"2025-09-21T08:23:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=90898"},"modified":"2025-09-21T08:23:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:23:35","slug":"laver-cup-day-3-predictions-alcaraz-cerundolo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/09\/21\/laver-cup-day-3-predictions-alcaraz-cerundolo\/","title":{"rendered":"Laver Cup Day 3 Predictions Including Carlos Alcaraz vs Francisco Cerundolo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The final day of the 2025 Laver Cup has arrived, with <strong data-start=\"165\" data-end=\"209\">Team World holding a commanding 9-3 lead<\/strong> after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/09\/21\/laver-cup-2025-day-2-recap-taylor-fritz\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">sweeping all four matches on Day 2<\/a>. With each match on Sunday now worth three points, the door is still open for Team Europe to mount a comeback, but the margin for error has disappeared. At LWOT, we\u2019re once again here to break down and provide predictions for each match on this decisive day.<\/p>\n<h2>Laver Cup Day 3 Predictions<\/h2>\n<h4>Alcaraz\/Ruud vs Michelsen\/Opelka<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head-to-head:<\/strong> First Meeting<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"129\" data-end=\"653\">It was the pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud that sparked Team Europe\u2019s comeback last year, and they\u2019ll have the chance to do the same this year against Team World\u2019s Reilly Opelka and Alex Michelsen. On paper, the combination of Opelka\u2019s big serve and Michelsen\u2019s steady groundstrokes looks like a tough duo to break down. However, after a disappointing showing on Day 2, Alcaraz will be eager to reassert himself as the force multiplier he proved to be last year, while Ruud also has a point to prove.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"655\" data-end=\"690\"><strong data-start=\"655\" data-end=\"688\">Prediction: <\/strong>Alcaraz\/Ruud in 3<\/p>\n<h4>Jakub Mensik vs Alex de Minaur<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head-to-head:<\/strong> Mensik 0-2 de Minaur<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"120\" data-end=\"598\">It goes without saying that every match today is a must-win for Team Europe, starting with Jakub Mensik taking on Alex de Minaur in the opening singles clash. Mensik brings a big serve and a solid backhand, though his forehand can break down under pressure. In many ways, he presents a similar profile to Alexander Zverev, whom de Minaur dispatched with ease on Day 2. On a slow indoor hard court, the Aussie\u2019s consistency and tactical clarity could once again prove decisive.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"600\" data-end=\"632\"><strong data-start=\"600\" data-end=\"615\">Prediction:<\/strong> de Minaur in 2<\/p>\n<p><a  id=\"3WV7LJ6uTcpSBb39G-8oQw\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2236478041\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'3WV7LJ6uTcpSBb39G-8oQw',sig:'2_lMcBE34k_A2IiiUUoH0-rZvYx3V_vREg5fxfzb3bs=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2236478041',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Carlos Alcaraz vs Fransico Cerundolo<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head-to-head:<\/strong> Alcaraz 3-0 Cerundolo<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"125\" data-end=\"603\">Francisco Cerundolo has developed a habit of producing some of his best tennis at the Laver Cup, highlighted by a comfortable win over Holger Rune on Day 2. His opponent, Carlos Alcaraz, looked weary and off his game in his upset loss yesterday, but if this matchup takes place, I expect him to regroup. The pair have already contested two close battles this year, with Alcaraz\u2019s mentality and quality shining through in the key moments. A similar outcome feels likely here.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"635\"><strong data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"620\">Prediction:<\/strong> Alcaraz in 2<\/p>\n<h4>Alexander Zverev vs Taylor Fritz<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Head-to-head:<\/strong> Zverev 5-8 Fritz<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"98\" data-end=\"478\">Fritz has been playing some of the best tennis of his career since the grass season. That run was capped by a win over the World No. 1 yesterday. Zverev, a familiar foe for the American, has been the opposite. He has struggled to reach the standards he set in previous years through long stretches of 2025. Their head-to-head may look close on paper, but the recent story is one-sided. Fritz has won the last five meetings and six of the last seven overall. His complete game has consistently posed problems for Zverev, and with the American in strong form, there is little reason to expect a different outcome here.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"795\" data-end=\"823\"><strong data-start=\"795\" data-end=\"810\">Prediction:<\/strong> Fritz in 2<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The final day of the 2025 Laver Cup has arrived, with Team World holding a commanding 9-3 lead after sweeping all four matches on Day 2. With each match on Sunday now worth three points, the door is still open for Team Europe to mount a comeback, but the margin for error has disappeared. At [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5608,"featured_media":80059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[43335,564,15552,18656,18925,85,15615,5729,15513,811,15415,10623,15945,18805,19130,2064,8797,19,15684,347,15712],"class_list":["post-90898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-2025-laver-cup","tag-alex-de-minaur","tag-alex-de-minaur-predictions","tag-alex-michelsen","tag-alex-michelsen-predictions","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-alexander-zverev-predictions","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-carlos-alcaraz-predictions","tag-casper-ruud","tag-casper-ruud-predictions","tag-francisco-cerundolo","tag-francisco-cerundolo-predictions","tag-jakub-mensik","tag-jakub-mensik-predictions","tag-laver-cup","tag-laver-cup-predictions","tag-reilly-opelka","tag-reilly-opelka-predictions","tag-taylor-fritz","tag-taylor-fritz-predictions"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90898"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90903,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90898\/revisions\/90903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}