Also on Saturday, Casper Ruud had to leave the court due to defeat in the Laver Cup. He lost his doubles match with Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final match of the day.

Alejandro Tabilo and Ben Shelton were in scintillating form, sweeping the European duo off the court 6-1, 6-2. The world team took an 8-4 lead into the final day.

Hope is not lost for Europe as each of the four games on Sunday will award the winning team three points.

While Tabilo and Shelton have been successful in most of their attempts, Tsitsipas in particular is still far from his best.

– I will go bankrupt if I continue playing like this, joked Tsitsipas during the break in the second set.

Ruud was also not at his best, and the pair trailed 0-5 in the first set before faltering in the first game. They did so after first fending off two set pieces.

The set was unsalvageable, and in the next set the world team immediately broke to 1-0. Ruud and his partner held serve to 1-2 and 2-3, and then they played three break points before Tabilo and Shelton broke the long game and went ahead 4-2.

The new break gives world teams the opportunity to host matches.

Ruud played Friday in the first match of the tournament and lost 6-4, 6-4 to Francisco Cerundolo. Tsitsipas and Dimitrov won their singles matches to give Europe a 2-1 lead, but Taylor Fritz and Shelton won their doubles match to make it 2-2 after the first day.

On Saturday, Carlos Alcaraz beat Shelton in singles, but that was Europe’s only win of the day. Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz beat Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, respectively, and the world team led 6-4 going into the doubles.

On Saturday, there are two points for a win.

(NTB)