Just over twelve hours after the last game of the great Roger Federer, and torrents of tears, hostilities resumed in the Laver Cup.
After a slow start, the duel between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Matteo Berrettini increased and after two hours and 16 minutes, the Italian won 7-6 (13-11), 4-6, 10-7.
“I couldn’t sleep after yesterday evening, it was very moving,” Brittney said in an interview on the pitch. I told Federer, when everyone was crying, that I wanted to play tennis because he was an inspiration to me. When I was young and playing in Rome, I tried to sneak into the main court to see him play. He was my idol. He did everything for this sport. I’m so happy to be here, I get goosebumps.
If Spaniard Rafael Nadal does leave London to be with his pregnant wife, the Swiss will remain in London until Sunday. Berrettini was also able to rely on Federer’s advice during his match.
I told myself I couldn’t take it all, Brittany said. It’s incredible. Yesterday Federer was crying on my shoulder and I wondered if that was true. Today, his advice helped me.
The Italian achieved speed in the super-half.
He scored five points in a row to take off thanks to his powerful serve and outgoing forehand. Auger-Aliassime managed to narrow the difference, but gave up on the first match point.
This was Auger-Aliassime’s second singles match in the Laver Cup. Last year, he also lost in three sets to the Italian.
If Quebec won five more rallies than its rival in the match, it was less intense during the POIs. His double-fault in the super break gave air to an opponent who didn’t ask for much.
However, only Auger-Alessem was the only one to score a break during this match. He had 23 wins and made 22 unforced errors.
In the second match of the day, Taylor Fritz defeated Cameron Norrie in three sets 6-1, 4-6, 10-8.
Frances Tiafoe, Nadal and Federer’s executioner in Friday’s double match with Jack Sock, was no match for Novak Djokovic. The former world number one easily won 6-1 6-3 in his first match since his victory at Wimbledon last July.
Since then, the Serb has skipped the North American portion of the summer schedule.
In the final match of the evening, Djokovic and Britney beat American Jack Sock and Australian Alex de Minaur in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.
Every win on Saturday brings two points to the winning team.
Four singles matches will also be scheduled on Sunday. On this last day of competitions, 3 points will be at stake in each duel, for a total of 12.
The European team won each of the first four championships in the Laver Cup, which opened in 2017.
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