Fritz dumps Alcaraz as World takes Laver lead

Taylor Fritz ambushed Carlos Alcaraz in a Laver Cup surprise to help the World side into a 9-3 over Europe in San Francisco.

Andre Agassi’s singles big beast did serious damage to the world No. 1 as he defeated Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2. Fritz was helped by teammate Francisco Cerundolo, who began the tie by beating Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (4) while Alex de Minaur accounted for Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4..

World finished off a day 2 comeback sweep in doubles, with de Minaur and Alex Michelseon defeating Rune and Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-4.

Fritz defeated recent US Open winner Alcaraz for the first time in their series after three previous defeats including Wimbledon two months ago. It was the Californian’s first defeat of a reigning No. 1.

“We’ve been talking all day. It’s been an honour to play under Andre,” Fritz said.

“Both of us love to share our thoughts about the game. I knew what I had to do out here tonight. The question was if I was going to be able to do it.”

On hand as a VIP guest was Roger Federer, who began the event in 2017 to honour his longtime tennis idol Rod Laver.

Fritz saved break points in the opening game against Alcaraz and ran through the final games to claim the singles victory.

“Getting out of that first game was huge. I just made sure I didn’t second guess myself,” he said.

The defeat of Alcaraz ended a 13-match win streak for the Spaniard dating to Cincinnati last month.

The weekend will be decided on Sunday when victories count for three points each on the event’s sliding scale. Two wins would send World to the trophy.

Fritz won an aggressive encounter with 17 winners, including five aces,leaving Alcaraz shell-shocked.

“It wasn’t the match that I was expecting,” Alcaraz said “He played some great tennis.

“He was more on the court than me. The first or second shot of the rally was really important, and he did it much better than I did.

“In these (slow) conditions, the first shots are really important.”

Fritz counted the victory among his career best, including a win over Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Indian Wells final and his 2024 US Open final.

“I take almost more pride in this one because I feel like, start to finish, I won it, I earned it.

“A lot of the decisive points in the match weren’t so much him giving them to me; I felt like I made it happen in those moments.

“Just start to finish, I played an amazing match,” added the player competing in the Laver event for a fifth time.

Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz receives advice from team captain Yannick Noah during loss to Taylor Fritz -©Laver Cup