World selection wins Laver Cup for the first time

The world selection of tennis professionals won the Laver Cup for the first time. The American Frances Tiafoe beat the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the match tiebreak on Sunday in London with 1:6, 7:6 (13:11), 10:8 and thus secured the decisive points to make it 13:8 for the team by team boss John McEnroe. Tsitsipas missed four match points in the second set. The previous four editions of the team competition were won by the European selection.

The Europeans entered the final day with an 8-4 lead, but were unable to win any games on Sunday. Among other things, the Serbian Novak Djokovic surprisingly lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada 3:6, 6:7 (3:7), which is why the European team was behind 8:10 before the final singles in London.

A surprising defeat for Djokovic. © ANSA / ANDY RAIN

Before Djokovic, however, the Italian-British doubles Matteo Berrettini/Andy Murray also lost to Auger-Aliassime and Jack Sock. The European selection had always won the previous four events. The farewell of a legend After his emotional farewell, Federer slipped into the role of spectator on Saturday and Sunday. In a blue tracksuit, he stood behind the players' bench with his colleagues from Team Europe and provided tips and support. But even in this role, Federer continued to be the focus. The Swiss was repeatedly shown on the video cube. There was always thunderous applause whenever Federer was in the picture. The celebrated man smiled and waved to the audience. Tears stopped flowing.

An unforgettable picture: Roger Federer coaching Novak Djokovic. © APA/afp / GLYN KIRK

Not even when the American Frances Tiafoe completed the world team's first ever triumph with a 1:6, 7:6 (13:11), 10:8 in the match tiebreak against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Since Team World's lead can no longer be caught, the match between Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz was canceled.

“It’s an incredible feeling, we all did it together,” Tiafoe said. What happened this year was crazy. The 24-year-old is now number 19 in the world and only failed in the semi-finals at the US Open. Once again he showed strong nerves in the decisive phase of a set, especially the tiebreak of the second set, which lasted more than 22 minutes and was at a high level, was unbeatable in terms of tension.

Tiafoe, who has not lost a tiebreak this year, also used his best shots in the champions tiebreak. “I just love playing in a sold-out stadium. “I’m just happy to have proven it again today,” said the 2018 Delray Beach winner.

John McEnroe, who as team captain finally secured their first world triumph, was in a great celebratory mood. “Great would be an understatement, we lost a few times, it was close a few times,” said the American, who also did a short dance on the court. The Europeans presented themselves as fair losers. “It wasn’t enough this time, next year we want to get the cup back,” announced Europe’s captain Björn Borg.

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World selection wins Laver Cup for the first time

An emotional tennis weekend came to an end. In addition to saying goodbye to Roger Federer, the world selection around team boss John McEnroe won the Laver Cup for the first time

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