Carlos Alcaraz has participated in more tournaments this year than any other top player on the ATP Tour. Despite the claims about the Spaniard’s deteriorating health and fitness due to a hectic schedule, Alcaraz has confirmed his availability for the Laver Cup 2024. With the tournament kicking off in less than a week, the World No.3 also expresses his strong desire to lead Team Europe to a title win.
Despite being one of the top-ranked players on tour for the past few years, Alcaraz will only debut at the Laver Cup in Berlin this coming week. Having missed the tournament in 2023 due to fatigue, Alcaraz seems guilty as the Team World clinched a dominating 13-2 win in Vancouver. Hence, he is more motivated to lead Bjorn Borg’s side to winning the tournament for the first time since 2021.
Ahead of the tournament, the El Palmar native spoke about his highly-anticipated Laver Cup debut. The 21-year-old revealed that he would approach the tournament with the utmost seriousness while also hoping to have fun during the action-packed week.
“I love it and I wanted to be part of it. It’s a serious competition. I think we have to represent Europe, you know, in the best way possible. The prestige that this tournament has, and, being a Laver Cup champion is a huge thing. We are going to laugh a lot, I’m sure about it,” Alcaraz said.
While his Laver Cup teammates would be elated to hear such a strong comment, fans didn’t appreciate the four-time Grand Slam winner for claiming that the exhibition tournament was as relevant. Instead, social media users attacked him by stating that the Laver Cup was nothing but a “PR tournament”.
Nah He’s joking,,,no one gives a toss about the pr tournament
— SK (@Djoko_UTD) September 16, 2024
Laver Cup is a glorified exhibition event, not a serious tournament. ATP should stop including Laver Cup matches in head-to-head statistics.
— Montecinas (@Montecinas) September 16, 2024
Maybe he is giving more importance to this. Imo it’s not required
— (@vikash110497) September 16, 2024
Another user also accused Alcaraz of being paid by the organizers to promote the tournament.
They are paid to say this for sure because no way
— Prophet (@prophetspoison) September 16, 2024
Fans might debate about the legacy of the tournament. However, Alcaraz’s actions prove that he is proud to represent the country/region he is from. Participation and success in the 2024 Olympics and the Davis Cup 2024 are the best examples of the same.
Right from the start of the season, Alcaraz had made it pretty clear that representing Spain in the Summer Games was one of his goals. Sticking true to his words, despite the constant change of surface, the youngster made his country proud by winning the silver medal.
After a shocking loss at the US Open 2024, Alcaraz didn’t even take a well-deserved break to give himself some rest. Instead, he traveled to Valencia to lead David Ferrer’s team at the Davis Cup 2024. His presence in the national squad has been vital as the Spanish side has won each of their three group stage matches and booked a spot in the quarterfinals of the event.
Irrespective of what the narrative about the Laver Cup is, fans can expect Carlos Alcaraz to give it his all and try to end Team Europe’s two-year losing streak.
