On Saturday evening in London, Team Europe found itself in trouble at the Laver Cup. Carlos Alcaraz was down match point multiple times against Taylor Fritz, and Team Europe was one false move (twice) from trailing 7-3 as it headed into the doubles match.
Alcaraz battled back from the brink, defeating Fritz to level at 5-all, and the rest is history.
“That for me is where the rubber meets the road,” Jim Courier said at the Tennis Channel desk immediately after Team Europe clinched. “If Fritz wins that match, we’re still involved here for sure, and who knows what that momentum would have carried into the doubles for Team World.”
Momentum firmly on its side, Yannick Noah’s Team Europe took the next three matches, and the final ten points in total, to claim its sixth Laver Cup trophy at the O2 Arena, 13-5.
Europe took all three doubles matches, including Sunday’s first three-point match, a 7-5, 6-3 win by Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik over Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz. The boys in blue then sent in their closer, Alexander Zverev, who clinched a Laver Cup title for the fourth time with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over Learner Tien.
It was a reversal of fortunes for Zverev, who lost the match that clinched the Laver Cup for Team World against Taylor Fritz in San Francisco last year.
Only once in nine Laver Cup editions has a team overcome a deficit after the completion of Day 1, and while Team World threatened on Saturday by winning the first two matches of the day in match tiebreaks, they could not close.
“I think we were pretty close.” said Alex de Minaur, whose thrilling Day 2 victory gave Team World its last lead. “I mean, when you look at yesterday, we won two supers and lost one with Taylor playing an epic match. I mean, could have been a completely different Day 3 had we gotten Taylor’s match or even the doubles.
“We were very close. We were up against it. From the get-go, we were the underdogs, but we put in a hell of a fight.”
Fritz lamented his loss to Alcaraz as well.
“I think Day 2 was a big opportunity for us, in my match with Carlos and then the following doubles, to win either one of those and then give us a look to just win two matches today, which would be much more doable,” he said.
More Than The Score
A festive weekend in London was about more than the end result. With Roger Federer and Rod Laver front and center at the event, and superstar cameos from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Anna Wintour and Andy Murray, the three-day event capitalized on its star power and camaraderie. Andre Agassi’s hands-on coaching and deep tactical and philosophical conversations with his players went viral on social media, and a steady stream of moments, both on court and backstage, kept the good vibes flowing throughout the weekend.
Was there anything the eight-time major champion regretted about this weekend?
“If I were to look back in hindsight, I’m not regretful,” he said. “I mean, the ball could fall here or ball could fall there. Taylor’s serve on match point up, that thing, how close was that? You know, there were some epic battles out there that I think everybody — I think the sport won.”
The winning return of Carlos Alcaraz was another major highlight, the magnetic talent winning a doubles match with partner Jakub Mensik before his tightrope walk against Fritz on Saturday.
More to follow…
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