Laver Cup: Federer, Nadal shine to put Team Europe in control

Published by Matt Trollope

Roger Federer (L) and Rafael Nadal celebrate their doubles victory at the Laver Cup to give Team Europe a commanding lead; Getty Images
After winning their singles matches on Saturday, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal teamed up in a match-anticipated doubles match to give Team Europe a commanding lead in the Laver Cup.

Team Europe has taken a commanding 9-3 lead over Team World in the Laver Cup, thanks largely to the exploits of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Federer kicked off proceedings on Saturday in Prague with a 6-4 6-2 win over Sam Querrey, and was followed onto court by Nadal, who accounted for Jack Sock in a thrilling 6-3 3-6 [11-9] victory.

By the end of the day session, Team Europe were well clear with seven points to Team World’s one.

Australian Nick Kyrgios got two much-needed points for Team World by defeating the home-grown Tomas Berdych 4-6 7-6(4)[10-6], only for Federer and Nadal to team up in a much-anticipated doubles match and defeat Querrey and Sock.

GALLERY: “Fedal Utd” at Laver Cup

The 6-4 1-6 [10-5] win for “Fedal Utd” was the first time the two legends of the sport had teamed up in a competitive match.

Team World can still win the Laver Cup when players come back for the third and final day of play on Sunday – yet they must win at least three of the day’s four matches to have a chance.

Sock, for one, lamented how close he’d come to beating Nadal and scoring valuable points for his team, especially with scores locked at 8-8 in the match tiebreak.

“I liked my chances there,” he said. “It’s not even my match – all the matches, everyone yesterday. It says we are down 7-1, but this could easily be us up 5-3 at worst. Four, five points, gone. It does suck.”

RELATED: Day 1 – Kyrgios & Sock keep Team World in contention

Nadal acknowledged he’d been lucky to survive the American’s onslaught.

“It was close, no?” he said. “Of course, playing against Jack always is a big challenge. He played aggressive, some amazing forehands. And I was there all the time, no?”

Kyrgios admitted he struggled initially to adjust to the size of the O2 Arena in Prague, with 17,000 fans cheering vociferously for Czech opponent Berdych.

But the young gun’s vaunted serve proved the decisive factor, as well as buoyant support from Team World captain John McEnroe.

“I’m still pretty new with Johnny on the sidelines. I’m still getting to know him, as well,” said Kyrgios. “After today I feel very comfortable. Even when I was just serving, hit a good serve, he instantly says, you know, ‘Great serve’. I love that sort of feedback.”

But it was the doubles match that was the highlight of Saturday’s program in Prague.

The right-handed Federer, as expected, took the deuce side and Nadal the ad side, so both players could utilise their fearsome forehands.

The pair survived some hairy moments – like when Nadal was pelted at net by the powerful American duo, and when he and Federer nearly crashed into each other when reaching for an overhead – but largely combined well to end the match as victors.

“I was really focused before this doubles, I’ll tell you this; I didn’t want to miss (at) the start and be the one to blame,” Federer laughed.

“I’m very happy with how we played – it was so much fun. Just the preparation with Rafa … talking tactics, which side to play on, all these things are very special.

“I’m happy the one match we did play so far we did win in our careers.”

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