Frances Tiafoe gave Team World a 4-2 lead at the Laver Cup when he knocked off Team Europe’s Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 in Saturday’s first singles rubber at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany. Tiafoe, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open earlier this month, caught fire in the second set and the super-tiebreaker to pull off the upset. The 16th-ranked American had been 0-5 lifetime against Medvedev on the main tour prior to this result.
“Honestly, I just started having fun,” Tiafoe explained. “Laughing with my team, laughing with my team over there and here. Just having a bit of fun and started really finding my rhythm. The courts are obviously 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 tiebreak, I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly,” added Tiafoe, obviously cognizant of the fact that Federer was in the crowd.
The visitors’ advantage was brief, as Europe’s Carlos Alcaraz responded with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ben Shelton to conclude the afternoon session. “I’m really happy for being part of Team Europe in Laver Cup for the first time,” the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion assured. “I’m trying to be as [good] a partner as I can, as [good] a player as I can to help my team. I played against Ben, [who] is a really powerful player–a really tough one. I’m pretty happy because I played a really solid match since the beginning until [the end] of the match.”
