The Laver Cup is tied 2-2 following Day 1, as Team Europe took two of three singles matches before Team World answered in the doubles rubber.
Following wins by European representatives Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov, the pressure was on the visitors to win the doubles nightcap at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany. That is exactly what Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton did, defeating Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4.
“I was just having fun out there, to be honest,” Shelton said. “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. (It was) our first time playing together, and I think the chemistry was pretty good.”
“We both served really well under pressure,” added Fritz, who is coming off a runner-up performance at the U.S. Open. “Ben served incredibly well, so I didn’t have to hit any volleys. That was huge.”
The doubles result was preceded by Dimitrov scraping past Alejandro Tabilo 7-6(4), 7-6(2) and Tsitsipas beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4. Friday began with Francisco Cerundolo of Team World knocking off Europe’s Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4.
All matches were worth one point on Friday. They will be worth two on Saturday.
