Key to beating Carlos Alcaraz? Laver Cup opponents looking at tactic used by Pete Sampras and Martina Navratilova & hoping for US Open party fatigue

Carlos Alcaraz will be back in action this week at the Laver Cup, fresh off winning the US Open for his second Grand Slam of the season. His opponents, Team World, are understandably worried about dealing with the World No. 1, but they have revisited tennis history looking for a solution.

This year in San Francisco, Team Europe are the defending champions, having stopped the World contingent from a three-peat last year. To help them defend that title, captain Yannick Noah has a formidable roster on his hands: Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli.

Opposite them, captain Andre Agassi has chosen the best of the rest outside Europe: Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Francisco Cerundolo, Joao Fonseca, Alex Michelsen and Reilly Opelka.

However, to deal with Alcaraz specificially, the team will be turning to the likes of Pat Rafter, Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Martina Navratilova and Boris Becker. Specifically, the Chip & Charge tactic, a strategy used successfully back then and now near obsolete at the top level.

Quite simply, the Chip & Charge is akin to the serve and volley, but on the opposite side. A player must first hit a low, skidding slice (the chip) on the return, close to the baseline so that the server is immediately put at a disadvantage. Then comes the charge, wherein the returner rushes the net and finishes off the attempted lob or passing shot for a successful 1-2 kill.

At least that is what the plan is at the moment, according to Team World vice captain Pat Rafter.

"Chip charge. Yeah, I am having a bit of trouble trying to convince my players that chip charge does work. Probably not on this court, though," he said in their pre-tournament press conference.

Rafter lavished high praise on the Spaniard, stating that he was a 'weapon' at the top of the game. The Aussie believed that the only way to shock Alcaraz was to throw something different at him, and felt strongly that his players were capable of doing it this week.

"I mean, Alcaraz is a weapon. He's someone who is at the top of his game right now, and him and Sinner are dominating a lot of the tournaments. You need to throw something different at him as well. I mean, the guy has serious power. He's a great athlete, but everyone is vulnerable at certain times," Rafter said.

"It's about trying to go in there and coming up with a game plan when we know this, which will come out probably tomorrow, on who matches up, and then sitting down and strategizing," he added.

But that is not the only strategy Team World was going in with to deal with Carlos Alcaraz. Rafter also hoped, strongly, that the six-time Grand Slam champion would be still dealing with the hangover of winning the US Open and the partying the came after, which would make playing against him considerably easier.

"Andre and I will sit down and talk to whoever gets to play him and come up with some ideas. You're right, he's tough. He's brutal, and he's at the top of his game. Let's just hope that he had a good week off after the US Open, and he hasn't recovered," Rafter joked.

Alcaraz is not set to play singles on Day 1, but will play the doubles partnering with Mensik.

"I have battery enough" - Carlos Alcaraz on his post-US Open relaxation before Laver Cup weekend

Day Fourteen: The Championships - Wimbledon 2025 - Source: Getty

Speaking at his own press conference before the Laver Cup kicked off, Carlos Alcaraz opened up about what he did after the US Open. The Spaniard happily conceded that it was great to win down after such a hectic fortnight, but maintained that he now had enough to pull off more fireworks in San Francisco.

"It was great. I think it was needed to have some days after the US Open before here. So I just tried to be in a good shape, you know, in that week before coming here. For me, it's just great," Alcaraz said.

"So I have battery enough just to pull it off, good things here in the Laver Cup. Let's see how it's going to be these days," he added.

Alcaraz became the new World No. 1 after beating Jannik Sinner in the US Open final, but will not gain any ranking points at the Laver Cup.