Laver Cup
Yannick Noah on Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry: ‘You do not know what present you are going to see’
Frenchman captaining Workforce Europe at Laver Cup this weekend
September 19, 2025
Eakin Howard/Getty Photographs
Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Noah deal with the media forward of the eighth version of the Laver Cup in San Francisco.
By Jerome Coombe
Yannick Noah, captaining Workforce Europe at this 12 months’s Laver Cup, has been given the right platform to mirror on the current dominance of his main participant, Carlos Alcaraz.
As the previous No. 3 within the PIF ATP Rankings and 1983 Roland Garros champion, Noah is aware of the burden rivalries carry in shaping tennis historical past. Having competed in an period full of iconic clashes, the Frenchman is nicely positioned to touch upon how the game continues to reinvent itself by means of new generations, such because the compelling Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner rivalry, which has hit new heights this 12 months.
“Three, 4 years in the past, all of us thought as tennis followers that after Roger, Rafa and Djoko, after their time, [there is] gonna be an extended gap: ‘What’s gonna occur?’. The following factor you recognize, listed below are these champions coming,” Noah mentioned in a pre-tournament Laver Cup press convention.
“I am not such an awesome technician actually, however I actually imagine within the vitality that they bring about as a result of they’re such attention-grabbing and totally different characters on the market and really, extremely popular for the tennis fan. And naturally they’re enjoying nice tennis, everyone knows that. However it’s additionally the personalities that individuals like.”
Recognized for his on-court exuberance and aptitude, Noah has all the time positioned persona on the coronary heart of tennis. Throughout his personal profession, he typically thrived on rivalries: His Lexus ATP Head2Head sequence in opposition to Ivan Lendl, which he trailed 7-11, stood out as a defining battle that helped form his place within the sport.
It’s why, when Noah talks about gamers like Alcaraz, Sinner and Alexander Zverev, he emphasises not simply their tennis however their individuality.
“To see the distinction of persona and even throughout the [Laver Cup] staff… What I actually admire and I like is the truth that I can meet totally different guys which might be so all totally different,” Noah mentioned. “The journeys are totally different, they arrive from totally different international locations and that is what makes the circuit enticing.
“Proper now you’ve got seen quite a lot of Carlos with Jannik and Sascha and a lot of the guys right here, however what’s attention-grabbing is that they are so totally different. So that you’re gonna go see the present. You do not know what present you are gonna actually see. And the extent is superb. So that is what makes it attention-grabbing.”
The ‘present’ was by no means extra evident than on this 12 months’s ultimate at Roland Garros, the place Alcaraz saved three championship factors earlier than overcoming Sinner in a panoramic five-set battle. The 22-year-old Spaniard himself remembers that day vividly.
“I keep in mind, clearly, the sensation that I had in that match. I used to be enjoying nice till match [points] down, I felt prefer it was concerning the particulars. That’s core,” Alcaraz mentioned. “And you recognize what? I can say simply that I believed on a regular basis that I used to be in a position to come again and that I used to be in a position to win that match. I believe that that is crucial factor from my perspective.”
Competing because the World No. 1 for the primary time since September 2023, Alcaraz will probably be desirous to deliver that very same resilience this weekend on the Laver Cup, the place he’ll spearhead Workforce Europe’s quest for its second consecutive title below Noah’s steerage.
They are going to face fierce competitors from Workforce World, which options Prime 10 stars Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur, in addition to rising #NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca.
