Frances Tiafoe had a chance to secure the 2024 Laver Cup for Team World, but he failed to beat Alexander Zverev, which allowed Carlos Alcaraz to decide it for Team Europe.
Alcaraz beat Taylor Fritz in two simple sets to secure Team Europe's win over Team World. Having the chance to close out the Laver Cup for Team World was nothing new for Tiafoe, whose matches clinched the event for Team World in the two previous editions.
Tiafoe had a chance to do it for the third time in a row because if he had beaten Zverev, the score would have been 14-7 for Team World, which would clear the 13-point threshold needed to win the event, securing Team World the win.
He was fairly close to doing that because Tiafoe won the opening set. He then was a break up in the final set but couldn’t win the match, allowing Zverev to fight back and win that second set.
The final set was decided in a match tie-break, and once again, Zverev was able to win it. It was a tough loss for Tiafoe to swallow. He was very disappointed after, even fully taking the blame for the loss, and ultimately, Team World ended up being empty-handed.
"Yeah, I mean, obviously that wasn't easy. It's obviously a team effort, but I felt like I messed up for these guys generally. Yeah, that wasn't easy. Obviously, you guys know how much I love this event."
"You know, I gave everything I have, especially in this event. I really thought I was in winning positions. Thought I was the better player today. Just kind of, it didn't go my way."
While Tiafoe was clearly disappointed, he admitted that Zverev deserved to win the match in the end because he raised his level at the end of the match and proved better, which was a nice touch from the American, who generally is known as a respectable player who respects the competition and the nature of the game.
"At the end there, I thought Zverev raised his level. He deserved to win at the end. Battled hard. It's not easy to lose like that when you're up a set and a break and kind of one-sided. It's not easy, especially when you're not losing like a normal week. Everyone else feels that as well."
This was certainly not the last time fans saw Tiafoe at the event because he will want to be back in the future despite being disappointed after this loss, and he will certainly get more chances to deliver for Team World.
He played well at the event overall but ultimately didn't win the most crucial match he played. It happens.
"Definitely tough. Especially Mac's last one, as he was just talking about, him going off to the sunset. This is tough. But hopefully, you know, we bounce back and this team bounce back. Yeah, I'm probably off to the sunset too."
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