"Carlos Alcaraz walked in; he decided" - Alexander Zverev on how Spaniard called the shots ahead of Laver Cup glory

Alexander Zverev recently disclosed how a half-hour-long meeting and Carlos Alcaraz’s decisions led to Team Europe hoisting the 2024 Laver Cup. The German also uncovered Alcaraz's unshaken belief in his abilities when he, himself, went through moments of doubt.

Zverev and Alcaraz rose to the occasion on the final day of the Laver Cup (Sunday, September 22), producing two decisive wins that saw Team Europe win the event for the fifth time. In front of a packed home crowd in Berlin, the German scripted a miraculous comeback victory against Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-5, to keep the team alive at the event.

Carlos Alcaraz dethroned the defending champions, Team World, with a final blow against Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5. Interestingly, Europe trailed World 4-8 ahead of Sunday's fixtures. With each match carrying three points on the final day, Alcaraz and Ruud made a winning start in doubles against Tiafoe and Ben Shelton to close the gap (7-8).

In the second match-up, though, Daniil Medvedev fell short against Shelton, placing team World just two points away from a third consecutive triumph, before the turnaround by Zverev and Alcaraz. Speaking about how the final lineup was decided, Alexander Zverev said:

"What was the thinking? Well, it was quite simple. We had a meeting last night. It was extremely simple. We had an extremely simple meeting," he said in the press conference.

He noted that it was Carlos Alcaraz who called the shots.

"[Carlos Alcaraz] walked in. He decided, 'I want to play doubles with Casper. Then Daniil is gonna play singles against Shelton,'" the World No. 2 recalled.

Zverev also remembered how the four-time Grand Slam champion motivated him to beat Frances Tiafoe.

"...'You are not going to lose to Tiafoe,' which he had so much confidence in me, I never had in my life within myself, ever," Alexander Zverev continued. "'And I'm gonna win the deciding match.' And, well...”

"Honestly we had, like, a half-an-hour meeting, and Carlos walked in and decided what we are gonna do and we went to do that."

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"So you knew I'm gonna lose" – Daniil Medvedev's hilarious response to Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev's Laver Cup meeting disclosure

Team Europe pictured at Laver Cup 2024 - Image Source: Getty

Daniil Medvedev had a hilarious response to Alexander Zverev’s revelation of their meeting with Carlos Alcaraz.

Medvedev, who lost to Frances Tiafoe on the second day of the Laver Cup before his loss to Ben Shelton, was the only Team Europe player to remain winless during the 2024 edition. Had the Russian won on the final day, Zverev’s win would have sealed the deal for Team Europe, with the Alcaraz-Fritz match getting shelved.

However, considering Alcaraz had already decided the four-match lineup with confidence in himself and Zverev winning the final two matches, Medvedev concluded that the Spaniard must’ve been uncertain about his chances against Shelton.

"So you knew I'm gonna lose, right?" Daniil Medvedev hilariously questioned the Spaniard about his decisions during the aforementioned press conference, leaving everyone in splits.

Following their stint in Berlin, Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Medvedev are expected to resume their campaigns at the ATP 500 China Open in Beijing (September 26-October 2).