Tie-break master Berrettini bests Auger-Aliassime at Laver Cup as Team Europe gets back to lead
ATP
Matteo Berrettini bested Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2022 Laver Cup to give his team the lead again.
After Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe sent Roger Federer to retirement with a loss, Team World leveled the score of the 2022 Laver Cup to 2-2.
Right after his final career match, the Swiss Maestro withdrew from the event, and so he was replaced by Matteo Berrettini, who took on Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first match on Saturday.
On Day 2 of the Laver Cup, two points are awarded for each victory, and so both youngsters were looking to add the same amount as their colleagues added on Day 1 and send their team into the lead.
Usually, both players are used to firing dozens of aces, but it wasn't an ace fiesta in the O2 Arena due to very slow conditions. Throughout the first set, fans in London saw only one break point opportunity, which was left unused by Auger-Aliassime and so it had to be decided in a tie-break.
For a second, it seemed that players forgot that they were supposed to play only a regular tie-break and not a match tie-break, which is played instead of the third set if the score is tied.
It was especially Berrettini, who had six set points before eventually winning the first-set tie-break 13-11 and getting the important lead.
Yet, his opponent fought back in the second set with an early break. The Canadian got a break already in the third game and never gave his opponent a chance to take the advantage away for him as he cruised towards a 6-4 win in the second set.
Berrettini didn't want to play another marathon tie-break like in the first set, so he started a six-point streak after the first three rallies. After that, he found himself 7-2 up, and with solid serving, he never lost his lead despite the best efforts of Auger-Aliassime.
So after more than two hours, the Italian sent Team Europe to a 4-2 lead. Now, there are three more matches to be played on Saturday. After Rafael Nadal also withdrew from the event, he was replaced by Cameron Norrie who will play against Taylor Fritz in the next match.
