The 2026 Laver Cup takes place next weekend in London with the best players from Europe facing the best players from the rest of the world. On Thursday, the tournament received a significant blow when it was announced that 2026 United States Open finalist Ben Shelton of Atlanta, Georgia would not participate. No reason was given, but the best guess is that it was a little bit of fatigue from his match against Alexander Zverev on Sunday.
Shelton is now number four in the world, and he climbed five spots in the world rankings thanks to being the second best player at Flushing Meadows the last two weeks. However, the fact he did not give a reason for his withdrawal, should be questioned. It makes it look like the Laver Cup was not very high on Shelton’s priority list.
Shelton’s replacement will be American Brandon Nakashima of San Diego. Prior to losing to fellow American Alex Michelsen in the second round of the 2026 United States Open (6-3, 6-4, 6-4), Nakashima was having an excellent summer as he made the final of Montreal and semifinals of Cincinnati.
With Shelton’s withdrawal, the top ranked player on Team World is Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who is currently ranked ninth in the world. It should be noted that Shelton, and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is ranked fifth in the world, are focusing more on Davis Cup qualifying this month instead. Canada is playing France this weekend in Quebec City, while the United States are playing Czechia in Prague. Meanwhile, American Frances Tiafoe, who is eighth in the world, won’t be competing at the Laver Cup either.
