Tsitsipas doubles Europe’s lead with win over Schwartzman at Laver Cup

Stefanos Tsitsipas picked up where Casper Ruud left off as he gave Team Europe a 2-0 lead over Team World in the Laver Cup in London on Sunday.

The Greek sat courtside for much of Ruud’s opening three-set win over Jack Sock and was clearly inspired as he outplayed Diego Schwartzman in fine style, winning 6-2, 6-1.

Tsitsipas raced through the first set but the match was interrupted when a protestor ran onto the court and appeared to set fire to his arm.

“It came out of nowhere,” Tsitsipas said. “I have no idea what it’s all about. I never had an incident like this happen on court, so I hope he’s all right.

“I wanted to proceed with that match without having any minor changes to the court, and I wanted to make sure it’s playable, especially that area. It also got in my way in my viewing experience of the court, the way I saw the court later. There was a big mark over there, and I wanted it to be cleaned up in order for me to proceed the way I did before.”

When the match resumed, Schwartzman gave himself a glimmer of hope when he broke serve in the first game of the second set.

The hope was brief, though, as Tsitsipas hit straight back and then cruised through the rest of the set to make it 2-0 to Team Europe as they look to win the event for the fifth time out of five.

Later Friday, former world No 1 Andy Murray plays Alex de Minaur before Roger Federer plays his final professional match before retiring from the sport, partnering Rafael Nadal in doubles.

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