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Team Europe takes early lead in Laver Cup

An extra doubles match will be played if the teams are tied on points after all matches are over.

Team Europe celebrate the win

Prague, September 23: The inaugural Laver Cup got off to a great start with Team Europe taking a 3-1 lead against rest of the world on the opening day of the three-day competition that is aimed at injecting a new jolt of excitement into tennis.

The tournament, which will rotate between Europe and the rest of the world each year, features three singles and one doubles match each day. A win was worth one point on Friday and will count for two on Saturday and three on Sunday.

An extra doubles match will be played if the teams are tied on points after all matches are over.

Europe swept the singles matches before Australian Nick Kyrgios and American Jack Sock took down top-ranked Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych in the doubles to salvage a point for Team World.

Playing on a sleek black hardcourt at Prague's O2 Arena, Croatia's Marin Cilic, Austria's Dominic Thiem and Germany's Alexander Zverev got the European team off to an excellent start, winning all three of their matches.

That set Nadal and hometown Czech Berdych up for a clean sweep with the crowd behind them, but the pair started slowly and were eventually beaten 6-3 6-7(7) 1-0 (10-7) with the encounter decided in a 10-point match tie break.

"The first set they were better than us, but later it was close. We started to return more and be more aggressive," Nadal said.

"I am just happy the way the day went... Happy to go to bed 3-1."

Cilic beat American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 7-6 in the first match and Thiem swatted aside a challenge from another American John Isner 6-7(15) 7-6(2) 1-0(10-7).

Zverev then fought off Denis Shapovalov 7-6(3) 7-6(5), but all eyes on the first day were on Nadal.

Story first published: Saturday, September 23, 2017, 13:14 [IST]
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