Tennis legends give Team Europe Laver Cup victory

It was Team Europe who once again lifted the Laver Cup, as they dramatically defeated Team World 13-11 in Geneva.

The tournament consisted of three singles matches and a doubles match per day, and took place from Friday 20th September to Sunday 22nd September. The twist is that Friday’s matches are worth one point, Saturday’s competitions amount to two points, and the Sunday face-offs can really swing the tie at three points each.

The competition pits some of the world’s best up against each other in a large team format that is not common in the game usually for individuals or pairs.

Unsurprisingly, both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal represented the Europe side, which was captained by Bjorn Borg. However, with talents such as John Isner and Nick Kyrgios under the wing of John McEnroe, the outcome of the Laver Cup was by no means a formality.

The tournament opener saw a brilliant start for the hosts that would continue throughout the entirety of the first day. Dominic Thiem faced the most difficult match, needing all three sets to break down his tough Canadian opponent Denis Shapovalov.

Two more points for Team Europe came swiftly after Jack Stock briefly levelled the scores at 1-1, meaning the visitors entered the Saturday two points behind.

It was a mixed bag of results for both sides on day two. Federer and Nadal’s predictable victories were sandwiched by success in both the singles and doubles for Team World, keeping the gap at just two points.

Day three was where things got tense. John Isner and Jack Sock’s tiebreaker win was followed by Taylor Fritz comfortably winning his singles match, giving Team World a four-point lead entering the final two contests.

Just when the Europeans needed a hero, who else should step up but tennis legend Federer. His calm straight sets victory over Isner took the tournament into the final match of the weekend.

Team Europe used the momentum propelled by Federer as Alexander Zverev breezed past Milos Raonic 10-4 in the final set of the decider, giving the hosts a third successive Laver Cup victory.