Laver Cup: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev in action on the second day
The spectators at the Laver Cup in Geneva can look forward to a real tennis festival on the second day. Rafael Nadal , Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev will all work for Team Europe on the second day. In addition, an extremely exciting double awaits the 17,000 fans.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Sep 20, 2019, 11:39 pm
As in the previous two years, the selection from Europe will go into the second day with a 3: 1 tour. Dominic Thiem contributed the first point for Björn Borg's team with a win against Denis Shapovalov, after which both Stefanos Tsitsipas (vs. Taylor Fritz) and the pairing Roger Federer / Alexander Zverev (vs. Denis Shapovalov / Jack Sock) remained victorious . The only point for Team World came with a two-set win over Fabio Fognini.
This naturally does not make the task for Captain John McEnroe's team any easier. The guests also had the disadvantage of having to set their players first for the second day. Accordingly, according to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, the Europeans were able to "determine" what they saw as the most promising games.
This resulted in the following schedule for Saturday: Alexander Zverev and John Isner open the program at 13:00 CET, after which local hero Roger Federer will intervene. The 20-time Grand Slam winner faces Nick Kyrgios, whom he has defeated at the Laver Cup in the past two years.
Nadal twice in action
In the evening (from 7:00 p.m. CET), Rafael Nadal, who caused minor injury concerns on Friday due to a bandage on his wrist, will first compete against Milos Raonic. When asked about his wrist, the Spaniard said during the double between Federer / Zverev and Shapovalov / Sock: "Problems are normal after the US Open. I hope I'm ready for tomorrow."
The problems should not be too bad, however, because the Spaniard will compete again in the night session: Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas will compete with Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock in a highly interesting double.