Laver Cup: Team World drafts Cerundolo, Kokkinakis as replacements for injured De Minaur, Paul
This will be the second appearance for both players in the Laver Cup
Francisco Cerundolo, Laver Cup 2023
Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic
Alex de Minaur and Tommy Paul have been forced to withdraw from the Laver Cup competition due to injuries. As a result, Team World has drafted in Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis as replacements.
De Minaur has been dealing with injuries since Wimbledon. The Australian did not play any tune-up events between Wimbledon and the US Open and went on to reach the quarter-finals in New York, where he was looking hampered in his defeat to Jack Draper.
Paul reached the fourth round at the US Open where he lost to world No 1 and eventual champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
Cerundolo and Kokkinakis join Captain John McEnroe’s team which consists of Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. For both players, it will be their second appearance in the tournament (Cerundolo played in 2023 while Kokkinakis played in 2017), set to be held in Berlin from September 20-22.
Team Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg, features Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev on their roster.
This is the seventh edition of the annual exhibition event with Team Europe winning their first four editions (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) and Team World winning the two most recent editions (2022, 2023).
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