Laver Cup 2022: Novak Djokovic beaten, Roger Federer & co lose for the first time as Team World lift their maiden trophy in their fifth attempt
The 2022 Laver Cup made headlines on its opening day for being Roger Federer's farewell tournament, which went according to plan. Day 3, however, saw the usual script completely flipped, as Team Europe lost their monopoly on the tournament in unexpected fashion.
Coming into the day with a 8-4 lead, the European contingent were expected to defend their title without much fuss. The first match, where Matteo Berrettini partnered with Andy Murray to take on Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Sock, saw Team World close the gap with a 2-6, 6-3, [10-8] win.
Novak Djokovic then played the first singles fixture of the day against Auger-Aliassime, but could not sustain the momentum from yesterday. The Canadian showed no signs of fatigue from the doubles match at all, beating the 21-time Grand Slam champion 6-3, 7-6(3) in straight sets.
CHAMPIONS AT LAST! 🔴🏆
Team World capture their first Laver Cup title with a memorable 13-8 win over Team Europe
@LaverCup #LaverCup https://t.co/4NiLNnMpnx
With the score at 8-10 in favor of Team World, Stefanos Tsitsipas stepped onto the court to take on Frances Tiafoe in a must-win encounter. The Greek took the first set 6-1 very comfortably, but the American roared back to take the second set 7-6(11) in a brilliant tiebreaker after saving four match points along the way.
The match tiebreaker saw Tiafoe hold his nerves admirably, ignoring some minor hiccups along the way to wrap it up [10-8], handing Team World their maiden triumph at the Laver Cup in their fifth attempt. Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz were supposed to play against each other in the final singles tie, but with the magic figure of 13 already reached by Team World, there was no need for the encounter to take place.
"I think it's a normal process of a change of guard" - Felix Auger-Aliassime on beating Novak Djokovic at the Laver Cup
Speaking at his press conference after his victory over Novak Djokovic on Day 3 of the 2022 Laver Cup, Felix Auger-Aliassime remarked that all the stalwarts of Team Europe falling in the tournament could be construed as a change of guard of sorts.
"Okay, well, of course the big four, Novak and Rafa have been still playing amazing this year and last year. Federer hadn't played in a while, so I think for sure it was difficult for him to get out there," Auger-Aliassime said. "They had a match point to win. That's just doubles against a quality team like Jack and Frances. It was just great doubles. Then de Minaur played an amazing match against Andy."
TEAM WORLD WINS THE LAVER CUP for the 1st time!
Frances Tiafoe saves 4 match points in the 2nd set tiebreak and beats Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-6, 7-6(11), [10-8] to give World a 13-8 win over Europe in London!
12 consecutive tiebreaks won by Frances, absurd stat... https://t.co/Qm9QazwIhe
The Canadian further opined that youngsters on the tour have been knocking on the door of big tournaments more and more of late, showing that they were increasingly capable of beating the top guys on their day.
"I don't know. I don't look at it as a whole. It's case-by-case, match-by-match. But it does say that, yes, of course, the young players like myself and others on this team, on the whole circuit, are knocking on the door of the big, big trophies, big tournaments, beating these guys more and more," Auger Aliassime said. "So, yeah, I think it's also a normal process of a change of guard, yeah."
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