Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz earned a straight sets win over American Taylor Fritz to lead Team Europe to a 13-11 victory at the Laver Cup in Berlin.
Team World led 11-7 going into the second-to-last game in the race for the top 13.
But on Day 3, each win gave three points, and Germany’s Alexander Zverev cut the world lead to one point as he defeated America’s Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 10-5, ultimately sending the world into the final.
Alcaraz, Criticized the crowded tennis schedule They completed a thrilling comeback with a 6-2 7-5 win on Saturday.
“We all came here with the goal of winning the Laver Cup,” Alcaraz said.
“I’m really happy. We’re happy we reached our goal.”
“It was a tough game. We almost lost, but Sascha [Zverev] “He has really great tennis skills.”
On day one, Argentina’s Francisco Serralundo beat Norway’s Kasper Rudd to qualify for the World Championship, but Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas struck back by defeating Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beat Chile’s Alejandro Tavillo to put Europe ahead, but the match ended in a 2-2 tie when the US pair of Fritz and Ben Shelton defeated Alcaraz and Zverev in the doubles.
World won six of eight points on Day 2 to take an 8-4 lead.
Alcaraz was the only European player to win on Saturday, while Tiafoe and Fritz won the singles and Shelton and Tavilo won the doubles.
The final day of action for Europe began on a positive note. Lost 13-2 in 2023, Rude and Alcaraz combined for three runs in the double.
Shelton came within striking distance of victory in his 10th match, defeating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, leaving the world just two points away from reaching its goal of 13 points.
Zverev found his rhythm at just the right time and won his first match of the week to advance to the final.
And world number three Alcaraz, making his Laver Cup debut, kept his cool to lead Europe to the finish, beating US Open runner-up Fritz.
The first Laver Cup took place in 2017, and Europe has won five of the seven editions to date.
