Alexander Zverev appeared to ignore Carlos Alcaraz during his Laver Cup clash against Taylor Fritz.
On Sunday evening, the 2025 Laver Cup reached its climax in San Francisco as Team Europe looked to retain the trophy they won in Berlin last year.
However, heading into the final day of the event, Team Europe were faced with the task of winning at least three of the four matches.
After the duo of Alcaraz and Casper Ruud won the doubles tie, Jakub Mensik lost to Team World's Alex de Minaur, putting Andre Agassi's men one win away from victory.
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In the third match of the evening, Alcaraz managed to keep Team Europe's hopes alive by beating Francisco Cerundolo.
As a result, all eyes were on the match between Zverev and Fritz, with the winner either winning the Laver Cup for Team World or Team Europe would've taken it to a deciding one-set doubles match.
During the match, with Zverev down a set and leading the second 6-5, Alcaraz gave the German a few words of advice.
He said: "Put pressure on him, let him play, let’s fight, let’s work the point. At the beginning, two, three shots, and then go for it."
However, instead of replying to Alcaraz, Zverev turned to Ruud, called him over and asked: "What do you think?"
Ruud replied: "I think you just f***ing go for it."
However, the advice was no use as Fritz held serve before winning the tiebreak to seal the Laver Cup for Team World.
Speaking after the defeat, Zverev said: "Taylor has a huge game. When he’s in form, he’s really in form. He can hurt anyone. He can compete with anyone. I gave my best. I was close to winning the second set, then the tiebreak, with the team at my back.
"I definitely had chances, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. After the US Open, I didn’t play for two weeks. I didn’t do anything for two weeks. I had two injections. So far, it’s holding up. Yes, I hope it continues to go well."
Looking ahead, the 2026 Laver Cup will take place in London, England.
Topics: Carlos Alcaraz, Tennis
Marcus Chan