Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud played in doubles for Team Europe at the 2024 Laver Cup, but they didn’t do well as Alejandro Tabilo and Ben Shelton proved better.
By the time this match began, Team World were up 6-4 against Team Europe thanks to wins by Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz in singles. That gave Shelton and Tabilo a great chance to set Team World up amazingly before the final day.
To win, they would only need to win two matches, while Team Europe would need to win at least three, which seems a bit complicated. Ruud and Tsitsipas basically needed to win this match, but they didn’t start well.
They were minor underdogs because Shelton and Tabilo both play doubles semi-regularly. Ruud doesn’t play doubles often, and Tsitsipas does every now and then, while Shelton and Tabilo both have very good experience in doubles.
They showed it early in this match with an early break to make it 3-0. They then added another break to make it 5-0 after only 17 minutes of play. It was an utter display of domination as Team Europe showed very little chemistry and generally had no idea how to play effectively.
The first set almost ended in a bagel, as the Europeans had to save a bagel point. Bagels almost never happen in doubles due to how unlikely they are, given the increased advantage of the serving team, and how badly a team must play for them to happen.
That’s exactly how badly the European team played this doubles. The Chilean-American combo was able to win the opening set 6-1 behind a solid display of 11 winners, two aces, and only 4 unforced errors.
The European team didn’t hold for too long in the second set because immediately in the first game of the second set, Team World broke their serve. They got a chance to break and immediately used it; that’s just been the story of this match.
It was never particularly close because Team Europe was never really in it. They didn’t play well at the start and couldn’t play well as the match continued.
The best way to demonstrate that is after the first two games of the second set when Team World led 2-0, they had 3 winners and 1 unforced error, compared to Team Europe, which had zero winners and 4 unforced errors.
Another major issue was Team Europe's inability to create any kind of pressure on their opponents' serve. Neither Ruud nor Tsitsipas are known as particularly good returners, and it really showed in this match.
After breaking first in the second set, Team World team just kept pushing and almost got another break, which would have made it 4-0. The European team stabilized as time passed, and they started applying pressure and creating break chances.
Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter because Shelton and Tabilo were able to win the match, with the final score being 6-1, 6-2, giving Team World an 8-4 lead in the competition.
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