Alcaraz and De Minaur save match points in Laver Cup thrillers to leave it 5-5
Carlos Alcaraz saved two match points to beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 4-6, 13-11 and drag Team Europe level at 5-5 in a wild Saturday at the Laver Cup.
The win at The O2 in London on 26 September cancelled out two earlier victories for Team World and left the three-day team event perfectly poised heading into Sunday, with the tournament running from 25-27 September, according to the ATP Tour.
It was the second escape act of the day. Hours earlier, Alex de Minaur had also saved a match point to stun Alexander Zverev 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9, capping a Saturday afternoon swing that turned the whole contest, as reported by The Guardian.
The format explains the drama. The Laver Cup pits six men from Europe against six from the rest of the world. Friday wins are worth one point, Saturday wins are worth two. Team Europe led 3-1 overnight before play on Saturday.
Alcaraz and Fritz went the distance. After splitting sets, they played a match tiebreak, a decider to 10 points where a player must win by two, instead of a full third set. Alcaraz held his nerve from the edge of defeat to take it 13-11 and make it 5-5.
De Minaur's comeback was just as tight. Zverev dominated early, took the first set 6-2 and then served for the match at 5-4 in the second. De Minaur refused to go. He broke back, stole the tiebreak 7-5 to force a decider, then saved a match point at 8-9 in the match tiebreak before closing it 11-9.
That followed another three-set battle to open the day. Learner Tien beat Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 to start Team World's charge. Those two afternoon wins put Andre Agassi's Team World 5-3 ahead before the evening session.
Agassi is captaining Team World at this year's event. His side came in as underdogs in the overall history. Team Europe hold a 5-3 lead across the previous eight editions, although Team World won the last meeting 15-9 in San Francisco, according to Yahoo Sports.
What makes this stand out is the nerve. Three matches on Saturday went to a deciding tiebreak. Three times, the loser was points from victory. For fans, this means Sunday is a shootout. Every set will carry double weight after a day when one point here or there flipped the scoreboard.
