Alexander Zverev won a tight final match of the 2019 Laver Cup to help Team Europe lift their third title in a row on Sunday.
Germany’s Zverev completed a 6-4, 3-6, 10-4 win over Canada’s Milos Raonic to help win Europe win the tournament 13-11, a two-point margin that remained with his side throughout the three days.
This was after a drama-filled day saw Team World race to a stunning four-point lead after having begun the day two points behind. In the first match of the day, John Isner and Jack Sock shrugged off a loss of the first set to defeat Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas and march ahead by a point.
This was followed by Team World deciding to withdraw Nick Kyrgios from their match because he was feeling stiff but not before Europe had made a last-minute change to their line-up. Rafael Nadal, who was supposed to play the doubles with Federer and later a singles match against Kyrgios, opted out because of an injury and that left the Team World’s coach John McEnroe nonplussed.
He said:
“Rafa had played two matches in a row so we were a little surprised they put him in the first two the next day. We know he is Rafa but we are not too shocked. We are checking the rules as we speak to see what we can do about this.”
In the end, Dominic Thiem replaced Nadal and Taylor Fritz came in for Kyrgios, but the whole affair left bit of a sour taste between the two teams. Fritz defeated Thiem in another tense three-setter to grab a crucial four-point lead which left Team Europe needing to win both their final two matches.
Federer wasn’t stretched too much by John Isner, completing a 6-4, 7-6 victory over the American before the crucial final match saw Zverev edge out Raonic to complete the Europe win.
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