Scores level at Laver Cup after Fritz/Shelton down Alcaraz/Zverev in doubles

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

The battle for the 2024 Laver Cup is intriguingly poised heading into Day 2.

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton drew Team World level at 2-2 with Team Europe after downing the host team’s star Friday-night doubles pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final match of the day in Berlin.

Americans Fritz and Shelton fired 20 winners, including eight aces, en route to a 95-minute victory against the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings Zverev and No. 3 Alcaraz, the latter of whom was making his Laver Cup debut. They sealed their win after clinching a crucial break in the ninth game of the second set to restore parity for Team World in the annual teams event.

“We both served really well under pressure,” said Fritz in his on-court interview. “Ben served incredibly well, so I didn’t have to hit any volleys. That was huge.”

Shelton added: “I was just having fun out there to be honest. It makes life pretty easy when you’re playing with a guy who is moving like Taylor is right now. Pretty light on his feet, and we had a lot of fun. Our first time playing together, and I think the chemistry was pretty good.”

Grigor Dimitrov had earlier opened a 2-1 lead for Team Europe on the opening day with a thrilling 7-6(4), 7-6(2) victory against Team World’s Alejandro Tabilo. The Bulgarian rallied from a double-break deficit at 1-5 to snatch a straight-sets win and improve to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tabilo.

Dimitrov, who was forced to retire from his US Open quarter-final against Frances Tiafoe due to injury just 16 days ago, sent down 11 aces and won 80 per cent of points behind his first serve as he overcame some more physical struggles inside Uber Arena. With his two-hour, 15-minute win, Dimitrov improved to 2-0 in Laver Cup singles matches after he previously defeated Tiafoe on his event debut in 2018 in Chicago.

There will be three more singles matches and one doubles match in Berlin on Saturday, when each victory will be worth two points. Team World is bidding to win its third consecutive Laver Cup this year after it triumphed in London in 2022 and Vancouver last year.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link