San Francisco (United States) (AFP) – Laver Cup newcomer Joao Fonseca put Team World’s first point on the board Friday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Europe’s Flavio Cobolli. The 19-year-old Brazilian rallied from 2-4 down in the first set and broke twice in the second to claim the victory with a large contingent of vocal Brazilian fans cheering him on. “I tried to stay positive during the match,” said Fonseca, who won his first ATP title in Buenos Aires this year. “I was a little bit more nervous than usual, which is normal.”
Team Europe had gotten off to a quick start through victories from Casper Ruud and Jakub Mensik in the first two singles matches at Chase Center, home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Norway’s Ruud got Europe off the mark with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over big-serving American Reilly Opelka. Ruud claimed his fifth victory in as many matches against Opelka and took his Laver Cup singles record to 4-1. “I was in the same position last year and lost the opening match so it’s good to get some revenge and begin strong for Europe,” Ruud said.
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Mensik then survived a late hiccup to beat Alex Michelsen 6-1, 6-7 (3/7) 10-8. The Czech was broken as he served for the match in the ninth game of the second set. But after dropping the second-set tiebreaker, he regrouped to win the 10-point match tiebreaker.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz, fresh off his US Open triumph at Flushing Meadows this month, was aiming to add another point for Europe when he teamed with Mensik in the evening’s closing doubles against Team World’s US duo of Taylor Fritz and Michelsen. Europe has won five of the first seven editions, although Team World triumphed the last time the competition co-created by Swiss great Roger Federer was held in North America, in Vancouver in 2023.
There have been a few changes since Alcaraz sealed Europe’s win in Berlin last year. France’s Yannick Noah has taken over from Bjorn Borg as captain of Team Europe while American Andre Agassi is the new captain of Team World, succeeding John McEnroe.
Friday’s matches are worth one point apiece. Saturday’s schedule also features three singles and one doubles match, all worth two points apiece. Sunday’s schedule opens with doubles, followed by three singles as required — all worth three points. The first team to reach 13 points claims the cup.
© 2024 AFP
