Frances
Tiafoe and
Ben Shelton prevailed over Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(4),
7-6(5) at the beginning of the day, securing the
Laver Cup title.
Few could
have foreseen the significant superiority demonstrated by Team World over Team
Europe during the Laver Cup weekend. Without the presence of Roger Federer,
Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic, the Europeans arrived with the weakest team on
paper in the tournament's history.
With only
two top-10 players on their roster and led by Rublev and Ruud, Europe couldn't
withstand the rest of the world, which had only Taylor Fritz within the top 10.
Nevertheless, a closely contested weekend was expected without any team being
heavily favored.
However,
from the first day, the Europeans found themselves trailing, and today, they
would need to win all four matches to clinch the title, a challenging feat
starting with the Rublev/Hurkacz doubles facing the Americans
Frances Tiafoe
and Ben Shelton.
The doubles
match was decided by fine margins and saw no breaks in the first set. It was
only in the fourth game that the rest of the world's team faced two break
points against them, but they eventually managed to save them with their
serves, keeping the match level.
In the
tie-break, both teams were shaky on their serves, and although Europe had a 4-3
lead, Shelton and Tiafoe secured four consecutive points to take the set on
their first set point.
The second
set unfolded similarly, with both teams comfortably holding their service
games, extending the match to another tie-break, without even a break
opportunity.
In the end,
the North American duo prevailed and secured the title with a score of 7-6(4),
7-6(4).
With this
victory, the title remains in the hands of Team World, leaving a historical
record of 4-2 in favor of the Europeans in Laver Cup editions since the
tournament's inception in 2017.
