Alcaraz tops the bill as Laver Cup returns to London amid financial scrutiny
Carlos Alcaraz tops the bill as the Laver Cup returns to London this weekend; the report was published on 24 September 2026. Organisers face ongoing questions about the event’s place in the sport and its financial sustainability.
The Ryder Cup-style competition was conceived by Roger Federer and his longtime manager Tony Godsick and first took place in Prague in 2017. That inaugural edition produced a widely recalled moment in which Federer rebuked Alexander Zverev on the walk back to the locker room while Rafael Nadal added: "Not one negative face," he ordered. Federer’s words to Zverev on that occasion were captured in full: "I want a fistpump or a ‘Let’s go!’ every fucking point you win," he said. "And every point you lose, you fucking take it like a man. Because the problem is, when you don’t have the [result] you want, it’s like: ‘Ah, I knew it. Fuck, shit.’ I don’t want … honestly!"
After being viewed initially as an adversary to the Davis Cup and ATP events, the Laver Cup is now an official part of the calendar and has established a place in the tennis calendar. The event has enabled the likes of Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to play alongside one another as well as a score of other top players. While there is less star power on the tour today, the current edition is led by Carlos Alcaraz.
Company accounts show a mixed financial picture: the tournament recorded operating losses of £1.8m in Vancouver in 2023 and reported a £2k operating figure in Berlin in 2024, a figure that included "non-tournament revenue." Without that additional money, Berlin 2024 would have lost £1.5m. By contrast, Chicago 2021 generated an operating profit of £4.9m and London 2022 delivered £4.1m; the accounts for San Francisco 2025 have not yet been published.
At present it appears there are a limited number of markets where the event can be profitable. Every year since 2017 there has been debate about whether the Laver Cup should be described as an exhibition, a label many reject, but the competition remains a special event given some arbitrary invitations, its convoluted rules and the absence of ranking points. One common characteristic of top players is their competitiveness, and the event has produced plenty of high-quality, tightly contested matches.
There are, however, limits to how the Laver Cup fits into players’ priorities and emotions. It is hard to imagine the Laver Cup generating the same negative and positive emotions as the sport’s biggest events. The article notes that Alcaraz is unlikely to agonise with his team at the end of the season over a Laver Cup loss or to prioritise the event above more important tournaments.
Since its inception the tournament has been presented as a slick, well-run occasion that has experimented with presentation and format. The sight of longtime rivals teaming up has been singled out as unique to the event, and organisers have positioned the Laver Cup as an interlude late in the season before the final run-in to the ATP and Davis Cup Finals.
The Laver Cup takes place this weekend at the O2 Arena in London. This return to the capital comes four years after London last hosted the event.