Team World open up four-point Laver Cup lead as Alejandro Tabilo and Ben Shelton beat Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas
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Updated 21/09/2024 at 22:45 GMT
Team World are firmly in command going into the final day of the Laver Cup, despite Carlos Alcaraz securing his maiden win for Team Europe. Alcaraz beat Ben Shelton, but the American combined with Alejandro Tabilo in the late doubles match to beat Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1 6-2. The win opened up an 8-4 for lead for John McEnroe's Team World.
Highlights: Alcaraz turns on the style to beat Shelton and draw Team Europe level
Carlos Alcaraz beat Ben Shelton to secure his first win at the Laver Cup, but Team World won the final two matches of Day 2 to secure an 8-4 lead over Team Europe.
Team World will take four-point lead into the final day on Sunday as Alejandro Tabilo and Shelton swept aside the Team Europe partnership of Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1 6-2.
It proved to be the most one-sided contest of the competition so far, with the Norwegian and Greek failing to match the chemistry of their opponents.
Shelton was out for redemption after losing to Alcaraz in the singles earlier in the day, and he found it.
The American claimed that Tabilo put him "on his back", while Tabilo was glad to have the power-serving of Shelton in his corner.
"I love playing out here," Shelton said. "I love this format, singles and doubles, and I couldn't get it done in singles today. It was too good from Carlitos [Alcaraz], but I wanted to come out here and redeem myself tonight.
"So Alejandro [Tabilo] put me on his back a little bit and we were able to get it done."
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Ben Shelton and Alejandro Tabilo
Image credit: Getty Images
Tabilo added: "It's just unbelievable. I'm so happy I can support the team a little bit. The doubles was great, it was especially so easy playing with Ben and that huge serve. We paired good."
alcaraz wins first laver cup match
Alcaraz brought Team Europe level at 4-4 after defeating a resilient Shelton 6-4 6-4 in a simply sublime match on the second day of the Laver Cup.
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Carlos Alcaraz of Team Europe celebrates a point against Ben Shelton of Team World during the Men's Singles match on day two of the Laver Cup at Uber Arena on September 21, 2024 in Berlin, Germany.
Image credit: Getty Images
In a contest punctuated by sensational shots from both players, who seemed to be fighting a separate battle in who could draw the biggest cheer from the Berlin crowd, Alcaraz's brace of breaks was enough to seal the win.
While the first set saw the pair collectively survive 13 break points, the second was far more routine, as both recorded a pair of love-holds each.
And though Shelton led the aces tally by 2-0, Alcaraz eclipsed his powerful opponent in almost every other serving metric, including first-serve percentage and second-serve points won.
A remarkable hour-long opening set went the way of the Spaniard, who dazzled those in the stands with several scarcely believable shots, including a pinpoint drifted backhand to return a dangerous Shelton drop shot.
The highlight surely came in the penultimate game, when the young American's audacious, but ultimately in vain, hotdog attempt followed a delicious lob from his opponent.
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'What a shot!' - Alcaraz drifts 'absolutely sensational' backhand past Shelton
Shelton went on to win that particular game, but Alcaraz served out the set, having finally capitalised on a sixth break point at 3-3.
After the American struggled to hold at the beginning of the second set, Frances Tiafoe appeared to offer sage coaching advice to his Team World partner.
But courtside microphones could only pick up Tiafoe's words of sympathy: "I have nightmares about him [Alcaraz], every single time I play him."
The supposed words of encouragement summed up the contest - no matter how hard Shelton battled, Alcaraz always seemed to find an answer.
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'That's just unbelievable' - Shelton delights the crowd with no-look backhand
Even a stunning no-look backhand from Shelton at 4-2 down only succeeded in providing another moment of high-quality entertainment and simply delayed the inevitable.
The Spaniard's break at the start of the second set ultimately proved decisive, with both players cancelling each other out on serve from thereon in.
It felt appropriate that Alcaraz wrapped up the win just as he had the first set, with a devastating love-hold, his third of the match.
Fritz restores Team World lead with hard-fought zverev win
After Alcaraz had levelled the scores, Taylor Fritz restored Team World's two-point advantage in Saturday's final singles match, beating world No. 2 Alexander Zverev 6-4 7-5.
The American got the better of Zverev for the third time in a row, having knocked the German out of Wimbledon and the US Open earlier this season.
Zverev battled bravely while suffering with illness and broke first in the second set, but could not hold out against a determined Fritz.
The pressure built on the Zverev serve right from the off, as the German had to survive two break points in his first game with ball in hand.
Fritz, meanwhile, was giving nothing away on his, losing just two points on serve in his final four first-set games.
It culminated in a shock love-break going the way of the American to put him one set away from victory.
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Highlights: Fritz beats Zverev to restore Team World Lead over Team Europe at Laver Cup
"You are hitting the ball well," insisted Team Europe's Grigor Dimitrov to Zverev at the start of the second set.
The encouragement seemed to have an effect as he secured his first break of the match via a brilliant drop shot-volley combination.
But Friz returned the favour after his opponent passed up a brace of golden opportunities to seal his second break of the set.
Momentum had swung the way of the Team World star, who kept pushing the seemingly unwell Zverev.
Surviving deuce on serve, the 26-year-old closed out the match with a hard-fought break.
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