Tsitsipas/ Rublev win doubles to take Team Europe to the brink of Laver Cup victory

Team Europe 11, Team World 1 – After Saturday

• Match 5: Stefanos Tsitsipas (Europe) d. Nick Kyrgios (World) 6-3, 6-4
• Match 6: Alexander Zverev (Europe) d. John Isner (World) 7-5, 6-7, 10-5
• Match 7: Daniil Medvedev (Europe) d. Denis Shapovalov (World) 6-4, 6-0
• Match 8: Stefanos Tsitsipas/ Andrey Rublev (Europe) d. John Isner and Nick Kyrgios (World) 6-7, 6-3, 10-4

Tsitsipas/ Rublev (Team Europe) d. Isner/ Kyrgios (Team World) 6-7, 6-3, 10-4

• What happened: Team Europe won the doubles match on Saturday as Stefanos Tsitipas and Andrey Rublev deefated John Isner and Nick Kyrgios in a third set super tiebreaker.
• Why it matters: Team World won all the four matches on Day 2 of the Laver Cup, and now need to win just one match on Sunday to claim the title
• You will also learn: about the Laver Cup’s unique scoring format which means that Team World still have a shot to win the competition.

Rublev stars as Team Europe wins the doubles

Team Europe stood on the brink of winning the Laver Cup for the fourth time in a row as world No 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and world No 5 Andrey Rublev won the doubles encounter on Saturday to give the Europeans a 11-1 lead at the end of Day 2 in Boston.

Team World’s John Isner and Nick Kyrgios started off the doubles by winning the first set in a close tiebreak 10-8.

Rublev and Tsitsipas, who had both won their singles matches in the competition, fought back to win the second set 6-3 with one break of serve.

Rublev, not best known for his doubles skills, was the one who put up the best show on the court on the day as he also carred his team in the third set super tie-breaker. The Europeans won it 10-4 to win the match and take a 11-1 lead in the competition.

Read also

Ruthless Daniil Medvedev dispatches Denis Shapovalov to give Team Europe commanding Laver Cup advantage

Tennis Majors

Team Europe need one win on Sunday to win the Laver Cup again

As per the unique scoring format of the Laver Cup, a win on Friday is worth one point, a win on Saturday is worth two while a win on the final day is worth three points each.

With the score 11-1 in their favour, Team Europe need to win just one of the four matches on Sunday to claim the title once again. With 12 points on offer on the final day, Team World could still win the tournament if they win all the four matches on Day 3.

Below is the line-up for Sunday’s schedule, which has only one session.

12:00 PM

Rublev / Zverev (E) v. Opelka / Shapovalov (W)

Zverev (E) v. Auger-Aliassime (W)

6:00 PM

Medvedev (E) – Schwartzman (W)

Tsitsipas (E) – Isner (W)

HOW LAVER CUP SCORING WORKS

• The event is played over three days. On Friday and Saturday, there is a day and night session followed by a final single day session on Sunday.
• Each day four matches are played – three singles and a doubles.
• Both singles and doubles are best of three sets with ad scoring. In the event of split sets, the third set is a 10-point match tiebreaker.
• Each player competes in at least one singles match during the first two days.
• No player can play singles more than twice during the three days.
• At least four of the six players must play doubles. No doubles combination is played more than once, unless for the Decider on Day 3, if points are 12:12.
• The winning team must reach 13 points.
• In the event of a tie after all 12 matches are played, a final overtime doubles match – a Decider – is played as a regular set with ad scoring and a tiebreak.
• Friday’s lineup is announced on Thursday afternoon | Saturday’s lineup is announced an hour after play ends on Friday night | Sunday’s lineup is announced an hour after play ends on Saturday night | Match-ups are determined through the exchange of lineup cards by the captains.

Read also

Zverev edges Isner in tense tussle as Europe streak ahead

Tennis Majors

Read also

Tsitsipas stretches Europe’s lead with straight-sets win over Kyrgios

Tennis Majors