09/20/2024 10:07am. Updated 09/20/2024 12:47pm.
Francisco Cerúndolo (31st) was in charge of opening the Laver Cup 2024 this Friday and he did it in style, with a great triumph against Casper Ruud (9th). It was 6-4 and 6-4 victory for the Argentine in one hour and 38 minutes, who thus took revenge on the Norwegian, his executioner at the Paris Olympics, and in addition was ahead in the head-to-head record between the two (4-3). Thanks to Fran, the World Team went 1-0 against Europe.
It was a truly dream week for Cerúndolo, who last weekend was one of Argentina’s high points in the Davis Cup. After securing a ticket to the Málaga Finals with Guillermo Coria’s team, Fran was confirmed to join Team World at the Laver Cup, under the direction of American idol John McEnroe. And he got off to a flying start, beating one of Europe’s top players.
In his second participation in the Laver Cup (he was champion in last year’s edition), Cerúndolo had a solid match and won the first set, after overcoming a couple of break chances from Ruud at the Uber Arena in Berlin.
In the second set he had a strong start (5-2) and could have closed it earlier, but the Norwegian broke his serve and stretched the definition. Fran did not feel the pressure and won the match with a nice drop shot, also benefiting from a touch on the net.
The second point of the day will feature the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, for the European team, and the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, for the world team.
How to play the Laver Cup?
This annual tennis competition started in 2017, led by Roger Federer, and in 2019 it became an official ATP tournament, although does not distribute ranking points momentarilyThe first edition was held in Prague, Czech Republic, where the European team won 15-9 with the Swiss and Nadal as the leading figures.
In the world team, accompanying Cerúndolo, there are high-calibre tennis players like the Americans Taylor Fritz (7th), Frances Tiafoe (16th) and Ben Shelton (17th), as well as Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (22nd) and Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (78th)Meanwhile, in addition to Ruud, the European team will include the presence of Carlos Alcaraz (3°), Alexander Zverev (2°), Daniil Medvedev (5°), Stefanos Tsitsipas (12°) and Grigor Dimitrov (10°).
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