Fritz/Shelton edge Alcaraz/Zverev in doubles to level Laver Cup results | ATP Tour

Making Cup

Fritz/Shelton beat Alcaraz/Zverev in doubles to level Laver Cup result

Dimitrov beat Tabilo on Friday night in singles

September 20, 2024

The battle for the 2024 Laver Cup is intriguingly balanced heading into matchday two.

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton moved into a 2-2 tie for Team Europe after defeating the host nation’s star duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final match of the day in Berlin.

Americans Fritz and Shelton hit 20 winners, eight of them aces, in a 95-minute victory over world No. 2 Zverev and No. 3 Alcaraz, who was making his Laver Cup debut. They sealed their victory by grabbing a crucial break in the ninth game of the second set to restore parity for Team Mundo in the annual team event.

Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov had opened up a 2-1 lead for Team Europe on the opening day with a thrilling 7-6(4), 7-6(2) win against Alejandro Tabilo. The Bulgarian rallied from a double-break deficit and came from 1-5 down to snatch a straight-sets victory and improve to 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tabilo.

Dimitrov, who was forced to retire from his US Open quarter-final against Frances Tiafoe through injury just 16 days ago, fired 11 aces and won 80 per cent of his first-serve points as he overcame some fitness issues on Uber Arena. With his two-hour, 15-minute victory, Dimitrov improved to 2-0 in Laver Cup singles matches after he previously defeated Tiafoe on his debut at the event in 2018 in Chicago.

There will be three more singles matches and one doubles match in Berlin on Saturday, with each win worth two points. Team World is aiming to win its third consecutive Laver Cup this year after triumphing in London in 2022 and Vancouver last year.