Team Europe clinch fourth consecutive Laver Cup win
BOSTON, Sept 27, (AP): 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.
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 US 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 US 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 AugerAliassime of Canada, Diego
Schwartzman of Argentina, John Isner of the US and Nick Kyrgios of Australia. Aliassime, at No. 11, is the highest-ranked member of the roster.
In Metz, France, 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.
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 quarter-finals before the tennis great’s knee surgery - had nine aces but dropped serve twice against his second-seeded 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.”
TENNIS
Hurkacz’s other titles this year came at Delray Beach and the Miami Masters on outdoor hard courts.
Hurkacz started the week ninth in the ATP Race To Turin and boosted his chances of qualifying for the end of season ATP Finals, to be held in northern Italy Nov. 14-21.
He capped a fine Sunday by winning the doubles final with countryman Jan Zielinski. They beat Hugo Nys and Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 6-3.
In Ostrava, Czech Republic, Unseeded Anett Kontaveit cruised past fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-2, 7-5 to win the Ostrava Open for her third WTA title. Both players held their serve until the Estonian built a 40-0 lead in the 12th game of the second set before converting her first match-point with a forehand winner.
It was her sixth win over a top-20 opponent this year.
Kontaveit didn’t lose a set on her way to the victory at the hard-court tournament, her second title this season after also winning in Cleveland.
“It was such a good week for me,” Kontaveit said.
In her fourth final this season, Kontaveit hit 26 winners compared with 20 by Sakkari, who was playing in her first final since 2019.
She saved the only break point she faced in the final to reduce her overall record against her opponent to 5-6.
In the opening set, Kontaveit broke Sakkari in the fourth game to jump to a 4-1 lead and got another break in the eighth game to take it 6-2.