Carlos Alcaraz endured a losing debut at the Laver Cup on Friday when he and his Team Europe partner Alexander Zverev lost their doubles match against Team World’s Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in straight sets.
With the US pair’s 7:6 (7/5), 6:4 victory in the last game of the opening day in Berlin, Team World was able to equalize the overall score at 2:2.
Fritz and Shelton hit 20 winners against world number two Zverev and third-ranked Alcaraz.
“We both served really well under pressure. Ben served incredibly well so I didn’t have to hit a single volley. That was great,” said Fritz, who was playing for the first time in 12 days after finishing runner-up to Jannik Sinner in the final of the US Open in New York.
On Friday, Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4, before Stefanos Tsitsipas equalised for Team Europe with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Grigor Dimitrov then helped Europe take the lead with a 7:6 (7/4), 7:6 (7/2) win against Alejandro Tabilo.
There will be three more singles matches and one doubles match in Berlin on Saturday.
Team World is aiming for its third consecutive Laver Cup this year after triumphing in London in 2022 and Vancouver last year.
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