Team Europe easily tops Team World for 4th Laver Cup in row

Even without any of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic on the roster, Team Europe clinched its fourth consecutive Laver Cup victory by going up 14-1 against Team World on Sunday.

Tokyo Olympics singles gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany and Andrey Rublev of Russia gave Team Europe an insurmountable lead by beating Reilly Opelka of the U.S. and Denis Shapovalov of Canada 6-2, 6-7 (4), 10-3 in a match tiebreaker in doubles to open Sunday's play.

There were still three singles matches remaining, but Team Europe already had eclipsed the 13 points needed to win the Laver Cup. Match victories were worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday.

Team Europe won eight of the first nine matches in the three-day exhibition event, which was postponed in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Team Europe won the first three Laver Cups, too, in 2017, 2018 and 2019, each time with Federer and either Nadal or Djokovic participating.

Zverev and Rublev were joined on Team Europe this time by U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia, French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini of Italy and Casper Ruud of Norway. All six are ranked in the top 10.

Team World included Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, John Isner of the U.S. and Nick Kyrgios of Australia. Aliassime, at No. 11, is the highest-ranked member of the roster.

Hurkacz wins Moselle Open for 3rd title in 2021

Top-seeded Hubert Hurkacz clinched his third title of the year and fourth win in four finals as he beat Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the Moselle Open final on Sunday,

The 24-year-old Pole did not drop a set in winning the indoor tournament in Metz for the first time.

The Wimbledon semifinalist — and the last player to have faced 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals before the tennis great's knee surgery — had nine aces but dropped serve twice against his secondseeded opponent.

Hurkacz had to rally from a break down in the first set before starting to dictate more from the baseline against the big-hitting Spaniard, breaking his serve four times.

"Pablo is an amazing player, so playing against him in the final here is something special," Hurkacz said. "I needed to raise my level to play my best to be able to compete with him and today I came out on top."

Hurkacz's other titles this year came at Delray Beach and the Miami Masters on outdoor hard courts.