Labor Cup
Cerundolo turns Europe’s Ruud, Tsitsipas level at Laver Cup
Alcaraz/Zverev will face Fritz/Shelton in a blockbuster doubles match later on Friday.
September 20, 2024
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, Laver Cup
Argentina’s John McEnroe hugs Francisco Cerundolo after defeating Casper Rudd in Berlin.
Written by ATP staff
Francisco Cerundolo helped Team World take the first step towards a third consecutive Laver Cup title on Friday afternoon, while Team Europe’s Stefanos Tsitsipas was quick to remind Argentina and his teammates of the challenge they face in Berlin this weekend.
Cerundolo, ranked 31st in the PIF ATP rankings, upset Casper Ruud in the opening match of the 2024 team event, winning 6-4, 6-4 in 97 minutes to move 4-3 ahead in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series against the world number nine.
“I’m really happy. I had a responsibility to go there and play the first game. I knew it was going to be tough,” Serundolo said in his post-game press conference. “Kasper is a great player. We’ve played him a lot, so I knew how he was going to play, and I thought he played really well from start to finish.
“I was really there, focused, and just excited to get my second Laver Cup win and my first of the year.”
Cerundolo has more hits than Ruud (16-11) as he seeks to avenge the recent defeat to Norway at the Paris Olympics. The Argentine has adapted to the indoor conditions of the Uber Arena more quickly than Ruud, who has struggled with consistency of his ground strokes, giving Team World and captain John McEnroe a perfect start in Berlin.
“We’ve seen a few times where we’ve gone down by one or two points on the final day, so every point is very important,” Team World vice-captain Patrick McEnroe said. “I think it’s good to get some momentum going, especially in the first game.”
If European captain Bjorn Borg was looking for a quick response, he certainly got it from Tsitsipas, with the Greek winning 6-1, 6-4 against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second game of the afternoon session.
Tsitsipas set the tone on the first point of the match, sending Kokkinakis wide with a backhand arrow and then a powerful volley. The world number 12 hardly looked back from that moment, breaking his Australian opponent’s serve three times in an 81-minute victory to complete the victory.
That’s cool
@steftsitsipas The European team earned a point with a 6-1 6-4 win over Kokkinakis.@Lavercup | #Lover Cup pic.twitter.com/obPaeZAv72
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 20, 2024
With one point awarded for each win on Day 1, the Europeans and World teams head into Friday night’s session level at 1-1, with Griger Dimitrov taking on Alejandro Tavillo, while home favourite Alexander Zverev and Laver Cup debutant Carlos Alcaraz meet Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in the first doubles match of the weekend.
