Make a head
Cerundolo upsets Ruud, Tsitsipas ranges for Europe at Laver Cup
Alcaraz/Zverev to face Fritz/Shelton in blockbuster doubles conflict in a while Friday
September 20, 2024
Clive Brunskill/Getty Photographs for Laver Cup
John McEnroe embraces Francisco Cerundolo after the Argentine beat Casper Ruud in Berlin.
By ATP employees
Francisco Cerundolo helped Staff World take step one towards a 3rd consecutive Laver Cup title on Friday afternoon. Staff Europe’s Stefanos Tsitsipas then promptly supplied a fast reminder of the problem the Argentine and his teammates face this weekend in Berlin.
The world No. 31 within the PIF ATP rankings, Cerundolo defeated Casper Ruud within the opening match of the 2024 version of the group occasion. He triumphed 6-4, 6-4 after 97 minutes to take a 4-3 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head collection with the world No. 9.
“I am tremendous completely satisfied. I had the duty to go there and play the primary recreation. I knew it was going to be powerful,” Cerundolo mentioned in his post-match press convention. “Casper is a superb participant. We have performed rather a lot, so I knew how he would play, and I believe I did a very good job from begin to end.
“I used to be actually there, centered and tremendous pleased with my second win within the Laver Cup and my first this yr.”
Cerundolo smashed Ruud with 16 winners to 11 to avenge his latest defeat to the Norwegian on the Paris Olympics. The Argentine tailored extra shortly to the indoor situations on the Uber Area than Ruud, who struggled with the consistency of his groundstrokes, to offer Staff World and its captain John McEnroe an ideal begin in Berlin.
“We have seen it a couple of occasions, that on the final day it could come down to a degree or two, so each level is essential,” mentioned Patrick McEnroe, vice-captain of Staff World. “Particularly the primary recreation is nice to get some momentum.”
If Staff Europe captain Bjorn Borg was searching for a fast response, he definitely obtained it from Tsitsipas, because the Greek raced to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis within the second recreation of the afternoon session.
Tsitsipas set the tone on the match’s opening level, when he pushed Kokkinakis huge with a darting backhand earlier than transferring inside to unleash an emphatic volley. The world No. 12 barely appeared again after that, finishing his victory by breaking his Australian opponent’s serve thrice in his 81st-minute win.
Appears good 💪@steftsitsipas will get the purpose for Staff Europe with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Kokkinakis.@LaverCup | #LaverCup photo.twitter.com/obPaeZAv72
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 20, 2024
With one level awarded for every win on Day 1, the rating between Staff Europe and Staff World was 1-1 forward of Friday evening’s session, when Grigor Dimitrov takes on Alejandro Tabilo, earlier than house favorite Alexander Zverev and Laver Cup debutant Carlos Alcaraz tackle Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton within the opening doubles match of the weekend.