Tennis News Today: Carlos Alcaraz chalks up shock Laver Cup loss to lack of facilities; Roger Federer & Andy Roddick recall Rafael Nadal's 'disgusting' injury

The Laver Cup 2025, held from September 19-21, dominated the media cycle over the past weekend. Team World got the better of defending champions Team Europe this time. Carlos Alcaraz lost his singles match against Taylor Fritz on the second day, and attributed his loss to lack of training facilities at the current venue.

Alexander Zverev lost his cool during his defeat to Alex de Minaur, which was dubbed as overdramatic by the fans. Roger Federer and Andy Roddick were in attendance as well, and spoke about numerous topics at length for the latter's podcast. They also recalled the horrific injury of Rafael Nadal that ultimately brought his career to an end.

After a successful outing at the US Open 2025, Felix Auger-Aliassime has another reason to celebrate. He tied the knot with Nina Ghaibi over the weekend, with the lovebirds walking down the aisle in picturesque Morocco. On that note, here's a quick rundown of the biggest stories of the day:

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#1. Carlos Alcaraz bemoans lack of infrastructure at Laver Cup 2025 after his loss to Taylor Fritz

Carlos Alcaraz was Team Europe's trump card on account of his red-hot form over the past few months. With six titles from eight finals since the start of April, including recent triumphs at the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, he was expected to lead the Europeans to glory once again.

Alcaraz won his first match, a double contest, on the opening day of the Laver Cup in straight sets. However, he lost quite handily to Taylor Fritz during their singles showdown on the second day. When he arrived at his press conference after his loss, he blamed the lack of training facilities at the Laver Cup for his defeat.

While the Laver Cup field has 14 players, there was only one court allotted for players to practice, which was shared by all. The Spaniard found the arrangement cumbersome, as he could only train for an hour.

"I think before a tournament, before the first match you have to practice. You have to play sets. You have to play points. Here, as I said, having just one court to both teams, and we are seven in the team to both teams, I barely practiced one hour per day, which for me I'm not used to do that," Alcaraz said.

The lack of adequate warm-up led to his surprising loss to Fritz. Alcaraz did win his next match against Francisco Cerundolo on the third day, although his efforts were in vain as Team World ultimately managed to beat the Europeans.

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#2. Felix Auger-Aliassime and fiance Nina Ghaibi tie the knot in a private ceremony in Morocco

Nina Ghaibi and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Laver Cup 2023. (Photo: Getty)

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Nina Ghaibi are officially married after six years of courtship. They made their relationship official in March 2019, and got engaged in November 2024. The tennis pro had earlier revealed his intention to get hitched in the summer during the recently concluded US Open, where he lost to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.

The two got married in front of close family and friends in Marrakech, Morocco, over the past weekend. Ghaibi's father is Moroccan, and she's a professional equestrian representing the country in official events, thus making Morocco the perfect choice for their wedding nuptials.

Auger-Aliassime credited his wife for taking care of everything relating to the ceremony. With the Canadian slated to compete in next week's Shanghai Masters, the newly married couple will be eager to make the most of his downtime before he's off to China.

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#3. Roger Federer and Andy Roddick look back on Rafael Nadal's grisly injury

Rafael Nadal's tryst with numerous injuries are well documented. However, a congenital foot condition, the Mueller-Weiss syndrome, was the one that hampered him throughout his career. It was also the driving force behind the decision to retire, after the condition became too difficult to manage.

Roger Federer was keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings unfolding at the Laver Cup. His former rival, Andy Roddick was also there and was constantly interviewing numerous people for his podcast, 'Served with Andy Roddick'.

When it was Federer's turn to have a quick chat with Roddick, the conversation veered towards his injury towards the end of his career. The American also brought up Nadal's history with injuries, with the latter also giving a detailed insight of the same during his appearance on the same podcast earlier this year.

Roddick mentioned that even though Nadal isn't competing these days, his left foot is in a terrible state, going as far as saying "there's an animal living inside of it".

"Just so everyone knows how hard the players are playing for you in there and how rough this is physically. He took his shoes off, it looks like there's an animal living inside of his foot. It's disgusting," Andy Roddick said on the latest episode of his podcast at Laver Cup 2025. "I would say you should see it, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's absolutely disgusting."

Nadal ultimately retired in front of his home crowd at the Davis Cup Finals in November 2024. As for Federer, it marks exactly three years since his own retirement, walking off into the sunset after the Laver Cup 2022.

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#4. Alexander Zverev's outburst at Laver Cup deemed excessive by fans

Alexander Zverev at the Laver Cup 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Alexander Zverev went off the rails during his loss to Alex de Minaur on the second day of the Laver Cup. Serving 15-30 in the ninth game of the second set, he hit a serve which the Aussie returned without missing a beat for a winner and set up a break point.

However, Zverev felt that the umpire should've called a let on his serve, and should've awarded him another serve. He began arguing with the umpire regarding the same, who found no merit in the German's words.

"Are you kidding me? That's the biggest let ever. How do you not see that? Are you serious?" asked Zverev in frustration.

At the end of the day, the Laver Cup is an exhibition tournament, so fans found Zverev's outburst unnecessary. He eventually lost the match 6-1, 6-4, and also went down in straight sets to Taylor Fritz in the final match of the tournament on the closing day, which helped Team World lift the trophy once again.

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#5. Chris Evert showers Bjorn Borg with affection after coming across a throwback post

Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert were among the most dominant players during their heyday. Both of them also won their maiden Major title together at the French Open 1974.

Borg's autobiography, "Heartbeats: A Memoir", is set to be released on September 23, 2025. The Swede gives a candid account of his triumphs and lows of his professional and personal life in it. With the release of the book around the corner, the promotions of the same are in full swing.

Evert came across the cover of Borg's upcoming book, along with an old photo of them together in their tennis attire, which was shared on social media. Nostalgia kicked in, and she looked back at the picture fondly while declaring her love for Borg.

Chris Evert

@chrissieevert

Love him...

Borg and Evert's careers were intertwined for quite a long time, with the duo ruling the clay courts at Roland Garros year after year. They have a combined 13 titles in Paris between them, with Evert narrowly edging out Borg in the title count, collecting seven trophies to his six.