Team World is one step closer to retaining their Laver Cup crown after a dominant display on day 2 at the Uber Arena in Berlin.
John McEnroe's Team World are seeking a third consecutive crown after winning the 2022 and 2023 editions as they headed into the second day tied at 2-2 with Team Europe.
The first singles match saw former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev pitted against Team World's Frances Tiafoe, a matchup in which the latter had lost all five previous meetings.
That statistic was trending in the same direction when Medvedev snatched the first set 6-3 after securing two breaks of serve.
Tiafoe, 26, required the sole break in the following set before a 10-point tiebreak in the decider would fall in the American's favour to claim a vital 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 victory.
"Honestly, I just started having fun," Tiafoe, who won 82 per cent of points behind his first serve, admitted post-match. "Laughing with my team, laughing with my team over there and here. [I was] just having a bit of fun and started really finding my rhythm.
"The courts are much slower than I’m used to playing on, so it’s tough playing Daniil on this court. But after the second set, midway into the second and in the tie-break, I felt like I was Roger Federer."
Another American, Ben Shelton, struggled to break through the power and pace of four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz as he failed to convert one of five break-point opportunities in a 6-4, 6-4 defeat.
However, that would be the only triumph for Team Europe as recent US Open finalist Taylor Fritz found the better of new world No.2 Alexander Zverev for the third time in succession, pencilling a 6-4, 7-5 win.
"I think over the years we have always had close matches," said Fritz about his rivalry with Zverev. "I think the games match up well. I can serve and hang in there with my serve because he's very tough to break. You have to have a good serve to stay in the match with him or else he's just going to serve you out of the match."
Team World extended their lead out to 5-3 in the doubles when the partnership of Ben Shelton and Alejandro Tabilo dropped three games against a rather disappointing pairing of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud.
Day 3 Schedule - Sunday:
Carlos Alcaraz/Casper Ruud (Team Europe) v Ben Shelton/Frances Tiafoe (Team World) - 8pm AEST
Daniil Medvedev (Team Europe) v Ben Shelton (Team World) - 9:20pm AEST
Alexander Zverev (Team Europe) v Frances Tiafoe (Team World) - 10:40pm AEST
Carlos Alcaraz (Team Europe) v Taylor Fritz (Team World) - 12am AEST
Catch all the action live on Stan Sport.
Comments