Two wins, one loss is Alexander Zverev’s record at the Laver Cup. With his partner Andrei Rublyov, the Olympic tennis champion ensures Team Europe wins the cup early against a world selection.
Alexander Zverev was in high spirits. At the side of doubles partner Andrej Rublev, the Olympic tennis champion joked, looked at shared pictures from their youth and was happy about the sovereign triumph at the Laver Cup. Together with the Russian, the Hamburg player put the crowning touches on Sunday in Boston with a 6:2, 6:7 (4:7) and 10:3 victory over Reilly Opelka (USA) and Denis Shapovalov (Canada) in the doubles.
Thanks to the success, Team Europe won the comparison against Team World 14:1 early – the three singles scheduled for the final day did not have to be played. At the fourth edition of the Laver Cup, Europe won for the fourth time.
“14:1 sounds much clearer than it was.”
ALEXANDER ZVEREV
“14:1 sounds much clearer than it was. We had to fight hard for this win, the group was great,” said the 24-year-old Zverev. “To be honest, I can’t wait until next year in London.” The deciding doubles match was only contested in the second set, while otherwise Zverev and Rubljev’s shared experience was the deciding factor. “We have known each other for a long time. We played doubles together when we were twelve years old, back then we argued a lot more,” the Hamburg native reported.
Zverev had already clinched the decisive points at the Laver Cup in 2019, when he won the singles against Milos Raonic from Canada. Last year, the event was cancelled due to the Corona pandemic.
On Saturday, the Europeans had won all four matches. Zverev won his singles match against the American John Isner 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8) and 10-5. Earlier, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas had defeated the Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-3 and 6-4.
Europe clearly superior
In the evening session, US Open winner Daniil Medvedev of Russia swept Canada’s Shapovalov off the court 6-4, 6-0 in 75 minutes. Tsitsipas and Rublev then extended their team’s lead in doubles with a 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 10-4 win over Isner and Kyrgios to close out the day. The Europeans had conceded the only defeat until the victory on the opening day, Zverev lost with Matteo Berrettini from Italy in the doubles against Isner and Shapovalov.
At the Laver Cup, both teams consist of six professionals and one substitute each. On Friday, a win in the three singles and one doubles was worth one point, on Saturday there were two points per match and on Sunday three.
With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the three long-time superstars of the field are missing this year due to injuries or exhaustion.