SEPT 20 - 22, 2024 | BERLIN
Alexander Zverev battled past Frances Tiafoe 6-7(5) 7-5 10-5 to claim three points for Team Europe, forcing Laver Cup Berlin 2024 to a decisive final match.
The German, competing in front of an enraptured crowd at Uber Arena, took two hours and 34 minutes to triumph. In doing so, he tilted the leaderboard to 11-10 in Team Europe’s favor, and extended his head-to-head advantage over the world No. 16 to 8-1.
“Let’s go!” Zverev screamed at Team Europe, before punching the air in delight.
“It was a win or die tie for us and I knew that I had to put all my energy and effort in and the team helped me so much with a lot of great coaching,” said the world No.2.
“The stadium was unbelievable today, one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever played in and so special that it’s in Germany as well,” said the Hamburg-born 27-year-old, sharing his appreciation for the fans.
Zverev acknowledged he was desperate not to let his teammates down.
“I had to fight for myself, for the team, for everybody in the stadium, and I’m glad that I came out with the win,” he grinned.
“We’re getting all so close, you know, during the Laver Cup, we’re all becoming friends all of a sudden,” he said. “It’s so special, we obviously have one goal and that’s to win here.”
Zverev said it was special to compete in front of sporting legends including Roger Federer, Boris Becker and former football player Bastian Schweinsteiger. It is very special for sure to play in front of – and not only from tennis but also the football world with Bastian – Roger and Boris – it’s always very special.
“Everything about Laver Cup is so special, you know, the atmosphere, the legends that come to watch [and] obviously the name itself, Laver Cup is named after one of the biggest legends that we ever had in our sport, he’s maybe done something that we’ve maybe never going to see again,” Zverev said, referring to Rod Laver’s feat of twice completing the calendar-year Grand Slam.
Tiafoe, initially fearless, was hot out of the blocks and convincingly clinched the opening set with an ace out wide.
An increasingly frustrated Zverev began seeing red and earned a code violation for ball abuse in the fifth game of the second set. Minutes later, the Roland-Garros finalist was broken by Tiafoe, who seized a 3-2 lead courtesy of a crisp approach volley, and consolidated to make it 4-2.
But ever the competitor, Zverev broke to level the set at 4-4 when Tiafoe slammed a forehand into the net, and let out a huge roar as the crowd erupted.
Serving at 5-6 and against chants of “Sascha”, Tiafoe capitulated on Zverev’s fourth set point, sending a forehand long to throw the match to a Laver Breaker, as decibels increased inside Uber Arena.
In the first-to-ten decider, patient play from Zverev and costly mistakes from Tiafoe, including one on his forehand on match point, granted Team Europe the win.
Earlier on Sunday, Ben Shelton won three points for Team World with a spectacular 6-7(6) 7-5 10-7 upset over world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the first meeting of the pair’s career. Shelton and Tiafoe lost the day’s doubles clash against Team Europe’s Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud 6-2 7-6(6).
Alcaraz takes on Taylor Fritz in the decisive singles match, and Zverev gave his teammate a 100% chance of winning.
“In my opinion, he’s maybe the best player in the world,” said the German. “When he’s healthy, he’s for sure the toughest player to beat and I’m very happy that he’s on our team right now.”
