Laver Cup: Team World, Team Europe share the spoils on day one

Team World and Team Europe did even the scores following a composed first-day match, making the competition for the 2024 Laver Cup more exciting going into Day 2.

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton tied the score at 2-2 with Team Europe after defeating the famous Friday-night doubles duo of Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz for the host team 7-6(5), 6-4 in the day’s last match in Berlin.

Americans duo of Fritz and Shelton defeated No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings Zverev and No. 3 Alcaraz—the latter making his Laver Cup debut—in 95 minutes by firing 20 winners, including eight aces.

They completed their victory by winning a critical break in the second set’s ninth game to give Team World a chance to catch up in the yearly teams competition.

“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 grabbed 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. With two sets remaining, the Bulgarian overcame a two-break disadvantage to win in straight sets and move to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Tabilo.

After overcoming more physical difficulties inside Uber Arena, Dimitrov, who was forced to withdraw from his US Open quarterfinal match against Frances Tiafoe only 16 days prior, smashed 11 aces and won 80% of the points behind his first serve. After defeating Tiafoe in his event debut in Chicago in 2018, Dimitrov advanced to 2-0 in Laver Cup singles matches with his two-hour, fifteen-minute victory.

On Saturday in Berlin, there will be three more singles matches and one doubles match, with two points awarded for each victory. After winning the Laver Cup in Vancouver last year and London in 2022, Team World is attempting to win the tournament for a record third time this year.