The Rest of the World team won the Laver Cup in tennis for the first time this Sunday, in a victory secured by the North American Frances Tiafoe, after a comeback against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas, sixth in the world ranking, won the first set, 6-1, but Tiafoe recovered in the second, forcing the tie-break and saving four match points, to win 7-6 (13-11) and prevail in the tiebreaker, 10-8, in a game that lasted one hour and 48 minutes.
Tiafoe’s win, ranked 19th in the world, sealed Europe’s first loss in five editions of the Laver Cup, giving captain John McEnroe his first victory, against European Björn Borg, 13-8, after four defeats.
The world team came to this match with an advantage (10-8), thanks to the victory of the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime against the Serbian Novak Djokovic, by 6-3 and 7-6 (7-3), in one hour and 35 minutes. .
After an impeccable first day, with individual and pair victories, Djokovic, in a team with the Italian Matteo Berrettini, also lost in pairs, against Félix Auger-Aliassime and the American Jack Sock, 6-2, 3-6 and 8- 10. .
Following these meetings, Djokovic admitted to having problems with his right wrist for the last “four or five days”.
“The two games yesterday [sábado] It didn’t affect me, but today wasn’t easy. I couldn’t serve as fast and placed as I would have liked. It affected my whole game. I don’t want to take the credit away from the victory. [de Félix Auger-Aliassime]He was spectacular, he served very well and he had a lot of confidence”, explained the Serbian.
McEnroe celebrated the end of European dominance with a dance on center court at London’s O2, joined by his ‘commanders’ Taylor Fritz, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Diego Schwartzman, Alex de Minaur, Jack Sock and Tommy Paul, before the conquest of Tiafoe.
The 2022 Laver Cup had already become special for marking the professional farewell of the Swiss Roger Federer, on Friday, together with the Spanish Rafael Nadal, ending with the first European defeat, after the successes of previous editions, held in Prague, Chicago, Geneva and Boston.
In 2023, the Laver Cup will be held in Vancouver, Canada.
Source: TSF
