MADRID, 25 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The American Frances Tiafoe defeated the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets (1-6, 7-6(11) and 10-8) this Sunday, giving the Rest of the World Team the Laver Cup for the first time, which is played from this Friday at the O2 in London.
The world number 19 raised up to five match points in the tiebreak of the second set, an emotional push that lifted Tiafoe and sank Tsitsipas, who was ‘in tow’ in the ‘super tie-break’. This victory made it 13-8 for the ‘Team World’, which came back in this third and final day of the tournament, leaving in nothing the duel that Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz had to play.
Tiafoe started by dominating the net, but Tsitsipas quickly understood how to find the American’s weak spots. With two ‘breaks’, the Greek easily sentenced the first set with a resounding 1-6 in 21 minutes. The second set was much more even, even reaching a ‘tie-break’ that would be key. Tiafoe kept calm and decided to take risks at the net, despite the Greek having up to five match points, all of them neutralized by the American, who won the second set.
The final tiebreaker for the best of ten was easy for Tiafoe, supported by the confidence and security that the second round gave him. Tiafoe closed the match with a 10-8 in less than 20 minutes, giving the first Laver Cup title for the World Team.
Earlier, on this last day of the tournament, Felix Auger-Aliassime surprised Novak Djokovic with an exhibition in two sets (6-3 and 7-6(3)) to pave the way for the World Team, which only needed a win to lift The throphy. It was the Serb’s first loss since May.
Djokovic started on fire and made it 0-2 quickly, but the Canadian appeared in time and began to connect powerful and precise shots to break the Serb’s serve twice and close the first set with a 6-3. In the second round, Dojokovic, with discomfort in his forearm, gave a little more war, but the ‘tie-break’ fell on the Canadian’s side.
This was not the only match that Aliassime played, as he previously formed a doubles pair with Jack Sock against Matteo Berrettini and Andy Murray. It was also for the World Team, which won the first duel of the day 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 in one hour and 35 minutes, after the European Team started the day with an 8-8 lead. Four.