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Laver Cup 2018: Roger Federer, Team Europe Beat Team World to Win Title
September 24, 2018
Team Europe won the 2018 Laver Cup on Sunday at the United Center in Chicago, beating the World by a score of 13-8.
Europe held a 7-5 lead heading into Sunday's action, putting them two victories away from reaching the 13-point tally required for a win.
That lead—which was at one point 7-1 on Saturday—quickly evaporated, however.
Team World won the day's opening doubles match through John Isner and Jack Sock, who beat Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (2), [11-9].
The Team World pair not only battled from a set down to win the match, they were also 9-7 down in the match tiebreak.
After Isner kept them in the contest with a superb winner down the line—one of two match points they saved—they eventually took the match and the overall lead, sparking wild celebrations:
Isner and Federer returned for the following singles match, and the former had the chance to kill off the latter with three match points in the second-set tiebreak.
The American's failure to convert them would prove costly, and after wrapping up the second set, Federer then went on to win the match tiebreak, too:
It then all came down to Kevin Anderson to keep the hopes alive for the world team, but Zverev came through with a win that once again came down to the tiebreak.
Anderson won the first set thanks to four aces, but Zverev battled back and eventually came through with a 6-7 (3), 7-5, [10-7]. His final point was filled with emotion, not only for the German but for the entire European squad:
The win was the second in a row for Europe in the Laver Cup in two years of existence, although the World team deserves a lot of credit for keeping things close against the more accomplished opponent.
With players like Federer and Novak Djokovic, the European squad was too tough to beat, especially when Zverev goes 2-0 in his singles matches.