Day Two of the
Laver Cup is set to get underway today, Saturday, September 22, with
Andrey Rublev and
Taylor Fritz set to kick off the day's battle between Team Europe and Team World.
Two of the highest-ranked players on the ATP Tour, World No. 6 Rublev and World No. 8 Fritz, will face each other in the first match of the day session. They are the highest-ranked players in their respective teams and have met seven times in the past.
The American narrowly leads their head-to-head 4-3, winning three consecutive matches against the Russian across 2021 and 2022. He also has a 3-2 lead on hard courts. However, Rublev won their most recent encounter in the semi-final of the Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this year 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
Ruud hoping to extend lead over Paul
Next up will be World No. 9 Casper Ruud's match against World No. 13 Tommy Paul. The Norwegian currently leads their head-to-head 3-1, having won each of their meetings since 2020. They last faced each other in the Round of 32 at the 2022 US Open.
However, this match could be an opportunity for Paul to make up the gap due to the fact that Ruud has been struggling as of late. The 24-year-old was eliminated in the second round of this year's New York major after a five-set battle with Zhizhen Zhang.
On the other hand, Paul has seen a lot of success recently, defeating Carlos Alcaraz at the Canadian Open in August to reach the semi-final of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Hurkacz-Tiafoe clash kicks off night session
The first match of the night session will be between Poland's Hubert Hurkacz and American player Frances Tiafoe. The former has a 3-2 lead in his head-to-head with the World No. 11, with all of their clashes having taken place on indoor or outdoor hard courts. The World No. 16 has won their last three encounters, while Tiafoe beat him in their first two matches back in 2018.
Closing out Day Two at the Laver Cup will be the doubles match between Team Europe's Hurkacz and Gael Monfils and Team World's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ben Shelton.
Schedule for Day Two Laver Cup
Day Session | |
Andrey Rublev | Taylor Fritz |
Casper Ruud | Tommy Paul |
Night Session | |
Hubert Hurkacz | Frances Tiafoe |
Hubert Hurkacz / Gael Monfils | Felix Auger-Aliassime / Ben Shelton |