The Laver Cup has concluded for another year.
Team Europe collected the title on this occasion, snatching the crown from Team World following Alexander Zverev’s victory over Learner Tien on Sunday.
The tournament was a success on the whole: players competed with a level of intensity comparable to the fervor witnessed on the ATP Tour, and fans appeared to buy into the team format once again.
However, not everyone has come away from the event attracted to the spectacle.
Rennae Stubbs, a former world number one in doubles and the coach of Serena Williams, is one individual who did not watch this year’s Laver Cup.
Rennae Stubbs ‘does not care’ for the Laver Cup
“One of the reasons why I don’t necessarily like watching the Laver Cup is because I don’t care. It’s like, it’s truly an exhibition,” the Australian, who won six Grand Slam titles across doubles and mixed doubles, said on The Rennae Stubbs Podcast.
“Yes, they ‘want to win’, because they like to have that little moment at the end, but it’s more like I don’t care who wins because it doesn’t mean anything.
“That is why I don’t watch it. If they want to keep doing it and it’s making all this money and the players are making money, whatever.
“But I don’t want to talk about it on the pod, because I just don’t think it matters.
“I was thinking if this had women… what was one of the most exciting things at the US Open? It was the mixed doubles.
“So I was thinking about that and I was thinking surely someone from the TV to the ATP or the WTA have to get together.
“The Hopman Cup was so popular in Australia. So imagine if you had the greatest singles players on both the men’s and women’s side going head to head in America vs Europe.
“You would have Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and you would have Rybakina and Sabalenka on the same team.”
If you were in charge of tennis, what is the first rule you would change?
The Hopman Cup is a global team event that features mixed-sex teams. The event was first held in 1989 in Perth, and was won by Czechoslovakia.
With six titles to their name, the United States is the most successful nation in Hopman Cup history.
Canada are the defending Hopman Cup champions. Last year, Bianca Andreescu and Felix Auger-Aliassime combined to defeat Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti and Flavio Cobolli in the final.
Sam Querrey believes the Laver Cup is not an exhibition
“This event is unbelievable. I know some people are like, ‘oh, it’s an exhibition.’ It’s not,” Querrey, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, stated on the Nothing Major Show.
“If you come to the event, you watch, you can feel it in the stadium.
“The players want to win, there is a stress, a prestige to play this event and it showed from the get go,” the American concluded.
2026 Laver Cup results
- Casper Ruud defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-7, 6-4, 10-8
- Brandon Nakashima defeated Jakub Mensik 6-1, 3-6, 10-7
- Rafael Jodar defeated Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-3
- Carlos Alcaraz and Jakub Mensik defeated Taylor Fritz and Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4
- Learner Tien defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 2-6, 10-7
- Alex de Minaur defeated Alexander Zverev 2-6, 7-6, 11-9
- Carlos Alcaraz defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 4-6, 13-11
- Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud defeated Brandon Nakashima and Alexander Bublik 6-4, 7-6
- Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik defeated Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-3
- Alexander Zverev defeated Learner Tien 7-6, 6-3
Following the Laver Cup’s conclusion, those competing in the event will now shift their attention to the Asian swing.
The likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Brandon Nakashima are competing in the Japan Open, while Alexander Zverev and Jakub Mensik are competing in Beijing.
