LONDON — Felix Auger-Aliassime stunned
Novak Djokovic to
put Team World on the brink of winning the Laver Cup for the first time on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
Auger-Aliassime handed Djokovic his first defeat
since May as the Canadian youngster powered to a 6–3, 7–6 (7/3) victory over
the Team Europe star at London’s O2 Arena.
Team World lead 10–8 in the Ryder Cup-style
tournament and need one win from the last two matches to lift the trophy.
France Tiafoe of the US can clinch the title if he
beats Team Europe’s Stefanos Tsitsipas.
A victory for Tsitsipas would set the stage for a
winner-takes-all decider between Casper Ruud and Team World’s Taylor Fritz.
Djokovic had won his first match for two months on
Saturday when the Wimbledon champion defeated Tiafoe in straight sets.
The 21-time Grand Slam winner, who missed the recent
US Open due to his unvaccinated status, also joined forced with
Matteo Berrettini to win a doubles match on Saturday.
Djokovic had chance to maintain his strong return to
action against Auger-Aliassime when he broke in the opening game of the first
set.
But Auger-Aliassime hit back with a break of his own
to level at 2–2.
Refusing to let Djokovic dictate play at the
baseline, Auger-Aliassime broke again and served out the first set.
Both players broke once in the second set, forcing a
tie-break that Auger-Aliassime won emphatically as he overpowered Djokovic with
some searing groundstrokes.
It was the first time Djokovic had tasted defeat
since losing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open quarter-finals.
Auger-Aliassime’s first ever win over Djokovic was
especially impressive given he had already partnered with Jack Sock for a 2–6,
6–3, 10/8 doubles victory against Berrettini and Andy Murray earlier on Sunday.
Team Europe needed two victories from four matches
to make it a fifth successive Laver Cup triumph, while Team World had to win
three contests to claim their first title.
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