Alex de Minaur replaces Frances Tiafoe for 2025 Laver Cup

Team World's team for the 2025 Laver Cup will be less USA-centric than planned after Frances Tiafoe was replaced by Alex de Minaur.

Tiafoe has appeared at the three previous iterations of the team event from 2022 to 2024. Team World triumphed in 2022 and 2023, but Carlos Alcaraz inspired Team Europe to victory last year in Berlin.

Regardless of whether Tiafoe plays in future editions, his doubles match alongside Jack Sock against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's in the Swiss maestro's final professional outing will always be his most notable at the event.

Sock and Tiafoe triumphed 4-6, 7-6, 11-9 after saving a match point in one of the most electric atmospheres in tennis history. Federer then made a tearful speech to the fans in London afterward.

Tiafoe's personality and love of entertaining have made him an ideal Laver Cup teammate, as evidenced by his good results. However, Team World will have to cope without him next week in San Francisco.

Fortunately, de Minaur is an excellent replacement. The respective teams have often drafted in players much lower in the rankings after late withdrawals, but the Australian, currently ranked No. 8, has prevented that from happening again.

Alex de Minaur is among the most consistent and solid competitors on the ATP Tour. His foot speed rivals Alcaraz's for the most impressive in the men's game, especially on hard courts.

The 2023 Canadian Open runner-up performed well at the US Open, reaching his sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal. His only dropped set in the opening four rounds was against Daniel Altmaier in a match that ultimately ended in the German's retirement.

Although de Minaur had a good tournament, he missed a great chance to reach a maiden major semifinal. The 26-year-old took the opening set against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinal, but narrowly lost 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.

Unless there are more withdrawals, Taylor Fritz, Francisco Cerundolo, Alex Michelsen, Joao Fonseca, and Reilly Opelka will be de Minaur's teammates. Four of the six players set to represent Team World were American until Tiafoe's withdrawal and de Minaur's inclusion.

Team Europe's current team, led by new captain Yannick Noah, consists of Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Jakub Mensik, and Flavio Cobolli. Andre Agassi is Team World's new captain.

Many players will play at the Laver Cup from September 19th until 21st and then immediately travel to either Beijing or Tokyo for the 2025 China Open and Japan Opens, which occur the following week.

Despite being the defending China Open champion, Carlos Alcaraz is on the Japan Open entry list. He might want to experience the tournament and Tokyo before deciding which event to play in the future.

Jannik Sinner, who lost a brutal three-hour battle to Alcaraz in the 2024 China Open final, will play in Beijing again this year. That prevents the ATP Tour's leading players from meeting again after facing each other in three Grand Slam finals this year.