Carlos Alcaraz triumphed over Taylor Fritz on Saturday, saving two match points to secure a crucial win for Europe at the Laver Cup. This victory puts Europe ahead with a 7-5 lead as the tournament heads into its final day.
Earlier in the day at London’s O2 Arena, Team World made a strong comeback from a 3-1 deficit. Learner Tien opened the day with a victory against Flavio Cobolli, but Alexander Zverev, the French and US Open champion, fell to Alex De Minaur, allowing Team World to narrow the gap before Alcaraz’s decisive match.
“Coming into the match, I was trying not to let it happen again. So I was kind of nervous at the beginning, I’m not going to lie. But really happy that I took the win at the end.
Zverev teamed up with Casper Ruud to give Europe the advantage heading into Sunday with a 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) doubles victory over Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima in the final match of the day. Each match on Sunday is worth three points with the first side to 13 the winners.
“Two great and tough losses today and obviously I was thinking a little bit about last year, (when) we lost every match on Saturday,” said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz was beaten by Fritz in last year’s Laver Cup as Team World stormed to victory in San Francisco.
